Overcoming the 6-minute Life: How and Why the Legal Profession Should Free Itself from Billable Hours

• Publication year: 2007
• Pages: 68
• Citation: Vol. 36 No. 1 Pg. 68

36 Colo.Law. 68 Colorado Lawyer 2007.

2007, January, Pg. 68. Overcoming the 6-Minute Life: How and Why the Legal Profession Should Free Itself from Billable Hours

The Colorado Lawyer
January 2007
Vol. 36, No. 1 [Page 68]

Departments
Review of Legal Resources
Overcoming the 6-Minute Life: How and Why the Legal Profession Should Free Itself from Billable Hours
by Robert V. Aghazarian

This Department is published to apprise attorneys of legal resources that may be of interest to them. Readers wishing to make review suggestions, provide review copies, or write reviews should contact The Colorado Lawyer Editorial Office, 1900 Grant St., Ste. 900, Denver, CO 80203 leonamartinez@cobar.org.

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OVERCOMING THE 6-MINUTE LIFE: HOW AND WHY THE LEGAL PROFESSION SHOULD FREE ITSELF FROM BILLABLE HOURS
by Bentley J. Tolk (Salt Lake City, UT: The 6-Minute Life LLC, 2005) [185 South State St., Ste. 1300, Salt Lake City, UT 84111; Bentleytolk@6minutelife.com; http://6minutelife.com]; 258 pp.; $29.95.

Reviewed by Robert V. Aghazarian
Aghazarian is a senior associate with the law firm of Inman Flynn Biesterfeld Brentlinger & Moritz, P.C. His practice emphasizes estate planning, probate, water rights, and real estate litigation - raghazarian@ifblaw.com.

If you ever find yourself wishing your life were not controlled by billable hours, Bently J. Tolk's Overcoming the 6-Minute Life: How and Why The Legal Profession Should Free Itself From Billable Hours (Overcoming the 6-Minute Life) is worth reading. Tolk has collected, in a short and easy-to-read book, the studies that support his position: that the billable hours required in private practice have disenchanted many lawyers with the practice of law. However, what makes Overcoming the 6-Minute Life valuable are the strategies Tolk provides to manage the impact of working under the strain of billable hours and the alternative billing methods he suggests for those willing to make a change.

In the first three sections, Tolk...