Novel and innovative computer system and method for accurately and consistently automating the coding of timekeeping activities and expenses, and automatically assessing the reasonableness of amounts of time billed for those activities and expenses, through the use of supervised and unsupervised machine learning, as well as lexical, statistical, and multivariate modelling of billing entries

摘要

This invention relates to a novel and innovative means and method to accurately and consistently classify professional services and expenses into textual, numerical, and Uniform Task Based Management System (UTBMS) or similar categories which can then be reliably used by attorneys, consultants, accountants, architects, and other professionals who bill by the hour for their services to track, analyze, and evaluate their costs, the performance of specific individuals and vendors, and other metrics. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel and innovative means and method of: (1) automating and standardizing the coding of professional activity and expenses in an accurate, consistent, and therefore useful manner; (2) automatically evaluating and standardizing billing entries through the use of lexical, statistical, and multivariate analysis, pattern matching, contextual grouping, and supervised and unsupervised machine learning of American English legal and other phrases; and (3) evaluating the reasonableness of amounts charged for specific professional activities and expenses, whether by entry or in the aggregate.