6 minute billing increments: why lawyers use tenths

6 minute billing increments divide an hour into ten units of 0.1 hours. With upward rounding, a two-minute call becomes 0.1 hours and an eight-minute task becomes 0.2. Tenths simplify fee calculations and limit rounding on short tasks, but the engagement agreement and applicable rules govern their use.

6 minute billing increments make decimal billing simple

Billing in 6 minute increments means expressing time in tenths of an hour. Under upward rounding, 1–6 minutes becomes 0.1 hours, 7–12 becomes 0.2 and 13–18 becomes 0.3. The bands continue to 55–60 minutes at 1.0 hours. These examples assume whole-minute durations and separate rounding for each task.

At an illustrative hourly rate of €250, each 0.1-hour unit costs €25, the minimum charge under this method. To convert any duration, divide minutes by six, round any fraction up to a whole unit and multiply by 0.1. Rounding to the nearest tenth works differently: a two-minute task rounds down to zero.

The ABA's 1958 pamphlet on law-practice economics encouraged daily time records to catch small items otherwise missed. Sixminute provides automatic time capture of the working day and writes the entries for review.

Larger units add more time to short entries

For tasks shorter than six minutes, a fifteen-minute minimum charges two and a half times as much as tenths. ABA Formal Opinion 93-379 mentions both tenths and quarter-hours as minimum units. The following calculations assume upward rounding of each entry, with durations recorded in whole minutes.

Six-minute units equal 0.1 hours

Ten units make an hour. Rounding adds at most five minutes per entry.

Ten-minute units equal one sixth of an hour

Six units make an hour. Rounding adds at most nine minutes per entry; one sixth is approximately 0.167 hours.

Fifteen-minute units equal 0.25 hours

Four units make an hour. Rounding adds at most fourteen minutes per entry.

For a hypothetical day containing ten separate two-minute tasks, 20 minutes worked becomes 60, 100 or 150 billed minutes respectively. At an illustrative €250 an hour, those totals cost €250, about €416.67 or €625. The fifteen-minute minimum adds €375 compared with tenths.

A single 20-minute task becomes 24, 20 or 30 minutes respectively. Smaller units do not reduce every individual entry, and the average addition depends on the distribution of task lengths.

Rounding remains subject to a reasonable fee

Under ABA guidance, rounding up is permissible when the resulting fee remains reasonable. ABA Model Rule 1.5 prohibits unreasonable fees and requires communication of the fee basis, preferably in writing. ABA Formal Opinion 93-379 allows minimum-unit rounding as an exception to its rule against billing more time than was actually spent.

A quarter-hour minimum therefore deserves close review on short tasks. Two separate five-minute calls rounded up to quarter-hours produce a 30-minute bill for ten minutes of work. Agreeing a unit with the client does not remove the reasonable-fee requirement.

A separate loss happens before rounding. In Primary Research Group's 2014 survey of lawyers at US firms with 25 or more lawyers, 57.7% said they had reduced recorded time because they could not remember how long a task took: on average 5.9 hours a month. Rounding cannot recover work missed while reconstructing billable time.

Dutch ten-minute units depend on the context

Ten-minute units can be reasonable in Dutch civil costs disputes, but legal-aid recording units cannot exceed six minutes. NOvA Gedragsregels advocatuur, rule 17(4) requires properly specified invoices showing the rate and time spent or another agreed basis.

In ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2016:2471, paragraph 4.9, Gelderland rejected ten-minute units when assessing recoverable wage-loss legal costs because actual time was insufficiently clear. The judgment, dated 29 April 2016, used customary six-minute units to estimate those costs. In a separate wage-loss case, The Hague appeal court, paragraph 7, found ten-minute units reasonable in themselves. These decisions concern recovery from another party.

For cases assigned under Dutch legal aid, Raad voor Rechtsbijstand's 2026-II conditions, article 3.1(b) cap fixed recording units at six minutes. This governs time records, rather than creating an hourly billing entitlement.

Flemish bar guidance leaves the fee method to the lawyer

A Belgian client's agreed fee method determines whether an hourly increment is relevant. OVB's client guidance describes hourly rates alongside fixed fees and other methods, and recommends agreeing terms beforehand.

The Orde van Vlaamse Balies prescribes neither six- nor ten-minute units in Opinion 702 on fees. It says lawyers determine their fees within reasonable moderation and must explain their calculation beforehand. For hourly work, the firm should state its increment and rounding method, then provide a statement showing the tasks and time charged. The client can then check the charge against the agreed hourly rate.

How Sixminute records work before rounding

Sixminute records the whole working day and writes time entries ready for review, including short tasks that would otherwise be forgotten. It captures work in every application on the computer, phone calls through its mobile app and meetings through Outlook and Google Calendar. Each task becomes an entry with automatic client and matter matching, its duration and a client-ready narrative.

Computer Event Reconstruction rebuilds the working day from computer events across every application, with no integrations to set up. Work in a court portal is covered without connecting another tool.

Sixminute takes no screenshots and logs no keystrokes. It filters work on the device so only what the timesheet needs leaves it. Setup takes about 5 minutes, and entries stay private to the lawyer until release.

Lawyers spend about 6 minutes a day reviewing and releasing their timesheet into the firm's existing system. In Sixminute's tests, lawyers billed 9 to 15% more hours for the same work.

Check the agreement against actual entries

The firm should compare its agreed method with a sample invoice before the next billing run. ABA Rule 1.5's communication requirement provides a starting point for firms following ABA guidance.

1. State the unit and whether rounding is upward or to the nearest unit in the engagement letter.
2. Check outside counsel guidelines and applicable legal-aid conditions before applying that method.
3. Recalculate a sample day's short entries using six-, ten- and fifteen-minute units. Inspect the total added by rounding.
4. Compare the timesheet with the work actually performed. Assess automatic time capture for recording missing tasks before applying any billing increment.