How should our law firm set our rates?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

You want clients to keep coming in the door. (Or, in the age of the pandemic, contacting you remotely.) And you want to be able to cover your firm’s expenses — and have an income. All those things are possible by determining appropriate rates for your firm. Laying the foundation Before you begin calculating your rates, there are a few … Read More

What Should Our Law Firm Billing Policy Look Like?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Many tasks eat into a law firm’s billable hours — including the billing process itself. Whether it’s writing descriptions for invoices, waiting for the right attorney to review the bill, or following up with overdue notices, billing takes up valuable time. But there are a few things you can do to expedite your billing process and put your hours to … Read More

How Can Our Law Firm Improve Our Billing Productivity?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

You’ve worked hard for your clients — and now it’s time to get paid. How do you make sure the invoices you send out accurately reflect your time and effort? And what can you do to increase the likelihood of the bills actually getting paid? The right consistency can go a long way toward improving a law firm’s productivity and … Read More

How often should law firms invoice their clients?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Should you invoice clients immediately after providing a service? Or should you wait and send out invoices on a monthly schedule? It can feel like a toss-up, especially since getting paid is important, and you’d like to have that happen as soon as possible. But take a step back and look at the big picture. A regular schedule helps clients … Read More

What’s the fastest way to bill our law firm clients?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Organized billing – a necessity for timely payments – requires being on top of a number of administrative tasks, which recur, month after month. It absorbs valuable hours, and law firms are always looking to cut down on the time it takes. Track time as it occurs You can’t bill what you haven’t tracked. Make sure you’re contemporaneously tracking tasks, … Read More

What credit card merchant is best for law firms?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Credit card payments promise ease and convenience for the consumer. That’s why people are making more payments than ever before, including recurring monthly payments like bills, with their credit cards.[1] Many lawyers know that offering online payment options to their clients makes bill payments faster and easier, resulting in more bills paid – and paid on time. Yet there’s no … Read More

Can my law firm charge our clients for credit card processing fees?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

The ability to take credit card payments is a major need for law firms. 80% of consumers prefer using cards over other forms of payment and more than half of all credit cardholders use their cards for daily expenses. That’s a lot of credit card users. Credit cards are convenient but they do come with downsides for the payee. The … Read More

How can our law firm start accepting credit cards?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Accepting credit cards helps cash flow, provides a convenient way for clients to pay, and gets rid of the time spent processing checks and applying payments. To start accepting credit cards, your firm should take the following steps. First, you need to decide on a credit card merchant. Be sure to keep in mind that accepting credit cards for law … Read More

What legal billing increment should our law firm use?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Deciding on what minimum billing increment your firm should use can have a big impact on efficiencies. There’s no one right answer, but they each come with benefits and drawbacks[1]. When billing, lawyers will typically choose one of the following increments to track their time. If tasks take less time than a given increment, the time is rounded up. Keep … Read More

Should my law firm outsource our legal billing?

Misbah Jalal Siddiqui

Billing is an essential task for law firms, but doing it can take up valuable time. Studies show lawyers can spend up to an hour a day processing client payments and preparing and sending invoices[1]. To maximize billable hours, it can make sense to outsource legal billing. However, for some firms it may make sense to hire someone to handle … Read More