Attendance, shift and leave process for Litigation firms: attendance, cover and leave built around hearing dates
In a litigation firm, who is where each day depends on the cause list. An attendance and leave process built around hearings keeps every court covered and lets people plan their own time.
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Share your requirementsWhy attendance, shift and leave process matters in litigation firms
Attendance in a chamber is rarely recorded. People are in court, at the registry, at a client's office or at home drafting. Leave is asked for by message and approved by whoever answers. When a listing shifts, someone is moved and the plan for the day changes without notice, and nobody knows who is free.
A sound process starts with a daily hearing list and a simple record of who covers what. It sets leave rules around known court vacations and busy periods, names cover for each court and notes extra hours so rest can follow. Clerks and juniors get a predictable pattern even when the day itself is not.
How to set it up
1. Prepare the daily hearing list
Each evening, list hearings by court, advocate, junior and clerk. Confirm each morning and mark changes.
2. Record presence simply
A short morning and evening note by each person: court, chambers or home. Enough to know who is where, without heavy tracking.
3. Name cover for each court
For every regular court or tribunal, a primary and a backup. Cover is then ready when a listing shifts or someone is ill.
4. Set leave rules around the calendar
Mark court vacations, big hearing weeks and festival periods. Ask for notice, and decide who approves. See attendance, shift and leave process.
5. Give rest after heavy weeks
Track late nights and weekend work, and plan lighter days where the diary allows. Review the pattern monthly.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Check whether you can say today who is in which court.
- Look at leave requests last quarter and how many were refused for lack of cover.
- Count late nights worked by each junior last month.
- Ask a clerk how they hear about listing changes.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach attendance, shift and leave process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Use a simple morning and evening note on location, and rely on the hearing list as the record of where they were. The aim is coverage, not surveillance.
Set a notice period for planned leave and a quick route for urgent cases. Longer notice for busy hearing weeks is reasonable.
Where the diary allows, yes. Plan a lighter day after very late nights, and record extra hours so they are recognised in pay or leave.