In most contingency cases (and in many non-contingency cases), throughout the duration of a case you will accumulate lien claims. It is important that your firm track these claims to make it easy on yourself once it comes time to create settlement or disbursement statements. As your client’s fiduciary, it is your responsibility to address all lien claims. Failure to … Read More
Tech Tip #131: How Often Should Your Firm Perform 3-Way Reconciliations?
It’s no secret that there are many laws and regulations associated with how your firm manages trust accounts. Depending on your jurisdiction you may be required to perform a 3-way reconciliation every 30, 60, or 90 days. But is that really enough? The truth is your firm should be reconciling all accounts daily to ensure that any mistakes are caught … Read More
Tech Tip #130: Leftover Money in a Trust Account Is Not a Good Thing
If your firm is managing a client trust fund and it has $4,567.78 in it, by the time you finish the relationship with the client you better have paid out $4,567.78 from that trust. When it comes to client trust funds it is imperative that nothing be left behind. Failure to pay out all funds associated with a client trust … Read More
Tech Tip #129: Properly Record Negotiated Lien Claims
Lien claims are a common part of many legal settlements. It is also common for third-party lien holders to negotiate the cost of these claims down. As an attorney, when you receive these lien claims over the duration of a case, it is important to record both the original and negotiated amount of the claim. This will allow your firm … Read More
Tech Tip #128: Do You Understand Trust Fund Compliance?
A lot goes into client trust fund accounting. Unfortunately, for lawyers, there are few attorneys out there who understand what that is. From maintaining a positive balance, when to claim funds as the firms, what fees can be deposited, and the commingling of client funds, there is a lot to understand. It ultimately falls on the managing attorneys to ensure … Read More
Trust Accounting: The Challenges of Compliance
There aren’t too many attorneys out there who enjoy trust accounting. Come to think of it, outside of accountants you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who genuinely enjoys any type of accounting. Most attorneys certainly are not accountants, so they naturally aren’t trust accounting experts. Unfortunately, many accountants aren’t aware of the legal-specific regulations associated with the management of trust … Read More
Tech Tip #127: Why Are Attorneys Afraid of Accepting Credit Cards?
Attorneys will stare down murderers and criminals in a courtroom without fear, but if a client wants to pay their bill with a credit card you might see them start to sweat. Credit card payments are widely accepted across most of the world, but the legal specific requirements related to accounting can scare attorneys away from accepting this convenient method … Read More
CosmoLex v4.8 Brings the Release of New Accounts Payable Module
CosmoLex version 4.8 features new Accounts Payable functions and enhanced accounting capabilities to further address and assist with legal-specific accounting challenges. MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ – May 2, 2017 – CosmoLex, a leading cloud-based, law practice management software provider, has announced the full release of a new Accounts Payable module in CosmoLex v4.8. Introduced in beta at this year’s ABA TECHSHOW conference … Read More
Tech Tip #126: Do You Accept Credit Cards From Clients?
How often do you actually pay for something with cash? It seems like more and more people are turning to plastic when they make a purchase. There are still many attorneys who do not accept credit card payments from their clients. The truth is there are many challenges for lawyers who accept credit cards, but those challenges can be met … Read More
Tech Tip #125: 3-Way Reconciliation Is Important, Make It Easy
There is no doubt that the 3-way reconciliation process is extremely important for law firms. Most jurisdictions require that it is performed monthly. The problem is the process can be difficult. Automating the 3-way reconciliation process can save you time and help your firm perform regulations more regularly to ensure that costly errors don’t go unnoticed for months at a … Read More