Resources
Three Mergers in Five and a Half Years: How Baker Sterchi Automated Timekeeping to Keep Pace with Its Growth
After three mergers and the addition of four new offices in three new states, Baker Sterchi needed a timekeeping process that could keep pace with its growing caseload. PointOne helped attorneys spend less time on time entries while keeping their work connected to SurePoint.
Julia Bodet
Growth
Additional billable hours recorded by attorneys | 90-Day Adoption Post Rollout |
|---|---|
15–20% | ~50% |
CUSTOMER
Founded in 1982, Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice is a Kansas City-based civil litigation and trial firm. Its attorneys represent clients nationwide from offices across six states.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Surepoint
TIMEKEEPING BEFORE POINTONE
Surepoint
FIRM SIZE
197
WEBSITE
How Rapid Growth Exposed Gaps in Baker Sterchi’s Timekeeping
Executive Director Douglas M. Doerfler had helped Baker Sterchi through three mergers in five and a half years. During that time, the litigation firm had roughly doubled its attorney count, adding more offices, clients, and different working habits along the way. That growth made one recurring daily task especially important to get right: accurately recording the work attorneys performed across an expanding number of matters, as the number of people entering time in different ways increased.
Doerfler knew the team was keeping up with its deadlines amid a growing caseload. The firm’s disciplined billing process translated to roughly 90% of time being submitted by the monthly deadline, with pre-bills following the next day. But that process could only account for work attorneys had actually entered.
“For some attorneys, the biggest struggle was the hundreds of one-tenth-hour emails. The volume made time entry such a chore that some of it simply never got entered.”
— Douglas M. Doerfler, Executive Director, Baker Sterchi
Doerfler wanted to ease that administrative burden as the firm grew. Attorneys needed more time to focus on their cases, while clients needed a clear and accurate record of the work performed on their behalf.
AI Timekeeping Rollout Plan
Baker Sterchi attorneys recorded time in different ways. Some used SurePoint timers. Others drafted entries in Word, wrote them on paper, or sent their time to an assistant. At least a third of the firm’s timekeepers relied on legal administrative assistants, who often had to identify matters and add task codes later.
Any new tool had to accommodate those different working styles without pulling attorneys away from their cases.
PointOne automatically prepared suggested entries from emails, calendars, documents, meetings, and desktop activity. Attorneys could simply review the matter, narrative, and task code, make any necessary changes, and approve an entry without having to reconstruct their entire day.
Doerfler began with 15 attorney volunteers, then organized small-group training in Kansas City and St. Louis. Attorneys and paralegals who worked on the same matters learned together. Assistants received separate training on entering time on behalf of others.
How PointOne Connected Time Entries to SurePoint LMS5
The new workflow connected directly to Baker Sterchi’s SurePoint LMS5. Client and matter information synced to PointOne every 15 minutes. As attorneys worked, PointOne captured their activity in the background and drafted entries with suggested SurePoint clients, matters, and billing codes.
Attorneys reviewed each draft, adjusted it if needed, and approved it. Approved entries then moved into SurePoint LMS5 for the firm’s usual pre-bill review process.
The Business Impact of Better Timekeeping
By capturing the short calls, conversations, and emails that some attorneys previously missed, the additional recorded work recovered the cost of Baker Sterchi’s annual PointOne investment.
Doefler’s experience working to integrate new teams into the firm, along with the firm’s managing member’s support for the effort, shaped the PointOne rollout. Implementing a new system required clear ownership and a thoughtful plan for successful adoption across offices. Doerfler led the project, organized training across different roles, and established a direct feedback loop with PointOne’s customer success team to onboard the firm’s workflow as fast and efficiently as possible.
One St. Louis attorney told Doerfler:
“This is probably the first time since COVID that I’ve had my time entered and released well ahead of the deadline. Great software.”
A Seattle-based attorney who travels frequently described the relief more simply:
“PointOne gave me my weekends back.”