The steps your law firm should take when it receives a client payment depends on the bar rules of the jurisdictions where you practice. Some states allow attorneys to place client overpayments in the attorney’s operating account and track the overpayment as an operating retainer. But in many jurisdictions, when a client overpays on an […]

Upon entering into an agreement to represent a client, attorneys and law firms frequently ask for the client to pay money in advance for fees and costs.[1][2] In many states, attorneys refer to this advance payment as a “retainer”.[1][2][3] In other states, however, the term “retainer” is defined in the Rules of Professional Conduct as […]

Many law firms require clients to pay an [simple_tooltip content=’An advance payment, or simply an advance, is the part of a contractually due sum that is paid or received in advance for goods or services, while the balance included in the invoice will only follow the delivery.’]advanced fee deposit[/simple_tooltip][1] or a [simple_tooltip content=’A security deposit […]

Attorneys provide services to clients “on credit” because they generally don’t bill the clients until after they’ve actually provided the services. The danger for law firms is that they will do the work, but the client will refuse to pay the bill. If the bill was for a significant amount of legal fees and costs, […]

An [simple_tooltip content=’Operating Retainer allow you to take and keep client funds in your operating account.’]operating retainer[/simple_tooltip] refers to funds received from clients that are deposited into the law firm’s operating account. A [simple_tooltip content=’A Trust Retainer is money that is given to the firm that needs to go into a separate escrow account where […]

Bank account balances, whether trust or business accounts, appear as assets on the balance sheet. The total amount of assets recorded on the left side of the balance sheet must always equal the total amount of equity and liabilities shown on the right side. When your firm deposits a client [simple_tooltip content=’A retainer fee is […]

Trust accounts are known for having a large number of rules and regulations that lawyers must follow when managing them. With such a high bar for maintaining compliance, migrating a trust account from one bank to another is a lot more complicated than moving all the funds to a new account and closing the old […]