Everyone wants a terrific lawyer, yet many clients (especially those without prior involvement with legal affairs) are taken aback when they receive their first bill. “The attorney-client relationship relies on trust. Certainly, clients must trust in your legal skills, but they also must trust in your everyday interactions with them—especially when it comes to billing and fees. Every lawyer wants clients who are happy and loyal, who refer business and who pay in full and on time. The way you approach billing can have a profound effect on whether you are blessed with these kinds of clients,” writes Allison Shields in her article, Billing 101.
“To establish a relationship of trust when it comes to billing, you must ascertain and manage the client’s expectations, set an appropriate and client-friendly fee, and establish good procedures. Exploring these matters from the client’s perspective will greatly improve your chances of having a satisfied, well-paying client,” Shields adds.
In some law offices portions of a client’s legal work, such as drafting complaints or filing pleadings, may be handed off to a paralegal which can result in a lower fee for those tasks. In some law offices the senior attorney’s hourly fee may be $300 yet the paralegal’s fee only $150. One aspect of billing that is essential to communicate with clients is the time spent on the telephone – it is the rare law office that does not charge the regular hourly for this time, even if is just a five minute call. Furthermore, many law offices charge via time increments – usually 15 minute blocks – so an 8 minute telephone call with a paralegal may be reflected as a 15 minute call at the rate of $37.50.
Nicole Black offers the following billing tips in her article Things You Didn’t Learn in Law School: Billing:
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Detail, detail, detail! Provide detailed descriptions of billable items. Clients will appreciate it and will have less questions about invoices.
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Don’t bill in blocks. Break down your tasks and avoid billing large blocks of time all at once. So instead of billing 2.5 hours for “responding to discovery demands,” instead reduce the task to its elements and bill separately for “reviewing demands,” “reviewing file to locate responsive documents,” “phone call to client to ascertain location of missing documents,” and “prepare draft of response to discovery demands.”
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Enter your time often. Bill as you go or enter your time as frequently as possible. That way you won’t forget billable time. Mobile billing tools, such as MyCase’s mobile app with built-in billing features are great for capturing billable time.
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Use simple language. Your clients aren’t lawyers, so whenever possible, avoid legalese when describing billable activities.
If you are interested to learn more about how lawyers feel about billing, check out the results of the Lexis-Nexis Business of Law Blog 8 Things Lawyers Say They Would Change About Billing.