What contemporaneous actually means
A contemporaneous record is one you make at the time of the work, or close to it, not reconstructed weeks later. For a time entry that means the date, the client, the actual time with a start and a stop, and a short description of what you did, captured while it is fresh (Assigned Counsel Manual, Chapter 5).
Why reconstruction is risky
Rebuilding a week from your calendar and your memory has two problems. You undercount, because the small stuff is already gone. And you expose yourself, because reconstructed time is the first thing an auditor or a disciplinary board distrusts. Estimated hours that happen to land on round numbers are a red flag, and the burden is on you to prove the time was real.
The case every lawyer should know
In 2021 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court suspended a law firm partner for two years over her billing (Matter of Zankowski, 487 Mass. 140). She had added more than 450 hours to client bills and billed for depositions she did not attend. Her firm returned about $260,000 to clients. The court found she charged a clearly excessive fee and engaged in dishonesty. Billing time you cannot stand behind is how a career ends.
The rules behind it
Two Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct are in play. Rule 1.5(a) bars an illegal or clearly excessive fee, which includes billing more time than you actually spent. Rule 8.4(c) bars dishonesty. Contemporaneous records keep you on the right side of both without having to think about it. For CPCS specifically, the Assigned Counsel Manual requires contemporaneous records with start and stop times, and your bill does not count as one (see what a CPCS audit wants).
How Plani helps
Plani is built around capturing time as it happens. You text what you did when you did it, and it keeps the date, the client, the start and stop, and your description. When you need to show your work, to CPCS or anyone, it is already there, recorded at the time and not rebuilt after the fact.