Successful legal billing is the lifeblood of a law firm. Without it, you can’t pay your staff or keep the lights on. Yet to up the stakes, even more, legal billing also represents a key opportunity to build positive relationships with clients. Our basic guide to legal billing best practices breaks down how you can […]

In the course of working on a matter, law firms end up covering both hard costs and soft costs for their clients at some point or another. Although different, both sets of expenses can be billed for reimbursement, as outlined in the client agreement. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to let reimbursement slip through the cracks. […]

When you run a law firm, positive client relations are key to building the next round of leads. There are many factors that influence how a client feels about working with your firm, but one of the most critical factors in that mix is billing. In particular, clients don’t want to feel like they’re being […]

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruling on Missouri v. Jenkins established that law firms can bill clients for paralegal hours in accordance with the market rate, not what the paralegal is actually paid by the firm.[1] Tracking billable hours for paralegals has become a standard part of law firm culture, but it still leaves the […]

For many lawyers, legal billing isn’t their favorite part of running a law office, but it still needs to get done. Putting off billing tasks can snowball into cash flow issues and accounts receivable going to collections. One way to sidestep this issue is to automate as many parts of the legal billing process as […]

Invoices can seem like just another routine piece of paperwork, but they carry a lot of importance for clients—and not just in terms of the balance due at the bottom of the page. Whether or not an invoice is straightforward and easy to understand can have a huge impact on a client’s sense of urgency […]

Most lawyers, and business owners in general, dislike following up on collections. Yet if you want to be paid for work you’ve already done, basic steps around collections are a necessity. One way to circumvent the issue of having to follow up with collections—and possibly putting it off instead—is to automate your collections process. Here’s […]

It’s a situation no lawyer wants to be in—following up with a client whose account is overdue. And while it’s hard to avoid challenging accounts altogether, there are a few steps you can take to bypass most potential problem accounts. Get retainers First, if you don’t already do so, collect retainers. Holding a retainer in […]

Depending on global, economic or personal factors, it’s natural to wonder if your firm should offer discounts—out of compassion, a desire for continuing firm cash flow, or some mixture of the two. Know the why First, ask yourself why you’re considering giving the client a discount. Are they hard up for money? If so, why […]

Setting up a payment plan can expand your law firm’s pool of prospective clients, especially during a pandemic economy.[1] And if done correctly, it can also help reduce the bills you have to send to collections by giving clients an option to pay in manageable chunks, rather than tackling a large sum at once. But […]