The Invisible Discount :: How Lawyers Undervalue Their Time Without Even Knowing It

By Kelly Margani, CEO + Strategic Coach

Here’s a story I tell in rooms full of lawyers that always—without fail—makes jaws drop. Because everyone in the room does it. Every. Single. One.

It starts innocently enough. A lawyer finishes their work, reflects on how long it took, and thinks: “That shouldn’t have taken so long.” So when they docket the time, they reduce it a bit. Maybe by a few tenths. Maybe by a few hours. It’s no big deal, right?

Then comes invoicing time.

The lawyer looks at the total and thinks: “This seems like a lot. I can’t bill that much.” So they shave off a bit more. Or a lot more. Still, no big deal—they just want the client to feel the bill is “reasonable.”

But here’s where it gets wild.

Maybe there’s another layer of review before the bill gets delivered. The partner responsible for the relationship, who is perhaps not the lawyer doing all of the work. Now this lawyer—who has no idea the time was already discounted—reviews the invoice and decides to discount it again. This time, the discount gets noted. It’s the one the client sees.

But it’s not the only one they get.

By the time the bill reaches the client, it’s often a fraction of the actual time invested. And because all the invisible discounts were just that—invisible—the client may still feel the bill is too high. Guess what happens next?

You guessed it: another discount.

That’s four layers of discounting. Only one of which is communicated. Which means clients are often getting more than a fair deal—but they don’t know it. And worse, the lawyers providing the value aren’t even seeing it themselves.

This is about more than billing. It’s about value.

Your docket is more than a timesheet—it’s your story of value. Every entry tells the client: “Here’s what I did, why it mattered, and how it helped you.”

But too often, lawyers revise the story before it’s even told. They pre-emptively shave time off as they docket—because they feel guilty, rushed, or unsure about whether something “should’ve” taken that long.

Step one is to stop doing that. Your first job is to capture every real, true, actual minute spent. Not the idealized version. Not what you think “should” be billed. Just the truth.

Only after that story is fully captured should you make decisions about the invoice. That’s when you can—with discernment and care—look at the broader context.

Maybe a junior lawyer was involved and their time needs to be adjusted for training. Maybe there was a bit of duplicate effort that doesn’t serve the client. Maybe the client is in a sensitive place financially, and you choose to reflect that.

That’s not discounting. That’s thoughtful, strategic billing judgment. But even that should be done with a careful hand—not a wide brush.

The mistake lawyers make is cutting before they even assess. And then cutting again. And again.

So what can you do?

• Docket with confidence. Capture all your time, as it was truly spent—not as you wish it had been.

• Resist the reflex to reduce. That hour wasn’t wasted. It was invested.

• Use discretion at the invoicing stage. Clean up where it makes sense—clearly, carefully, and only after the full picture is visible.

• Call your clients. Don’t just send a bill. Walk them through it. Narrate the story your docket tells—and fill in what it can’t say in 0.1 increments.

  
  

At SGI, we coach lawyers to own their value—on the docket, in their conversations, and in their practices. Because time is precious. And you deserve to be recognized for every minute of the impact you make.

Are you ready to start taking control of your time and realizing its true value? We can help. But first, tell us about your billing practices. Are you leaking time or giving it away for free?