In this case study, we asked Dr. Harald Lindemann from Lindemann Legal about the results he has achieved since introducing timeBuzzer — and what tips he has for you.

Why do you record your time?

I am a self-employed lawyer specializing in corporate law, M&A, and restructuring, with over 25 years of professional experience, including 18 years as a partner in a supra-local law firm with offices in Munich and Hamburg, focusing on corporate and tax law as well as transactions. In addition to my legal work, I serve as chairman of the supervisory board of two industrial companies and as a board member of both a non-profit organization and a family foundation with various business investments in Germany and abroad.

I bill my legal services based on the time spent, at a specific hourly rate. Precise and transparent recording of the time spent on a client matter is important not only for me, but also for my clients. As a lawyer, I am legally required to provide my client with a detailed time sheet together with the invoice when billing by time.

What has changed for the better since you started using timeBuzzer?

Recording working time has always been part of my professional life. In the early days, I logged time by hand, later in Excel spreadsheets, and eventually with law firm software that introduced stopwatches. These allowed for more or less accurate tracking. But manual editing of time entries or assigning them to the right client or project remained error-prone, whether in Excel or other tools.

With timeBuzzer – and especially the hardware buzzer on my desk – I can now switch mandates and projects within seconds when a call interrupts me while I’m drafting a contract. That way, no time is lost during a busy day with frequent context switches. Thanks to the color-coded clients, I always know at a glance whether time is being recorded and for whom. There’s no need to search for the right window, check the clock, or manually enter start or end times. No more transcription errors.

I use Lexware for invoicing and bookkeeping. The integration between timeBuzzer and Lexware Office has given me a major productivity boost. With just a few clicks, I can filter my recorded time entries by client and project and generate a ready-to-send invoice. It includes a legally required, detailed time report in PDF format. What used to take me half a day or even a full Sunday, manually combining time records and descriptions across systems, now takes just minutes. This seamless workflow from daily tracking to monthly billing has increased my volume of billable time. At least it feels that way, because I no longer lose time.

What tips do you have for others?

Getting used to timeBuzzer is VERY quick. The hardware buzzer itself is set up in under two minutes. Using the web interface, I can create new clients or projects with just a few clicks. It’s especially helpful that recurring project types, like “corporate law advisory” in my case, can be assigned to multiple clients, so I don’t have to create identical projects again and again.

The hardware buzzer is a great gadget. After a short adjustment period, it became second nature to use the buzzer at the beginning of an activity or when switching between projects, to assign time precisely to clients and projects. It’s also helpful that I can enter a task description directly via the buzzer app and, if needed, adjust tracked time later during the day with just a few clicks.