Best Billing Practices
Billing clients for your services doesn't
have to be a necessary evil. Practicing some fundamentals of billing
is more likely to lead to your clients' satisfaction and timely
receivables.
In invoicing:
1) List every document you prepared or reviewed, including
every letter or court form. Be explicit about the work you performed
(and the number of drafts or revisions).
2) Be careful about repeating descriptions
in your invoices. If you worked on drafting a contract several
times, vary the wording or use words and phrases like "further,"
"continued," "began drafting contract," and "outlined major provisions,"
so your client won't think you're erroneously charging multiple
times for work you only did once and question the bill.
3) Ask your client for its preferences
in the wording or presentations of invoices and where bills should
be sent.
4) Show litigation. Always include the
name(s) of the case(s), the court, and the case number(s). You'll
remind clients that the expense is in the litigation (which you
warned them at the inception of the matter), and not because you're
expensive.
5) Always review your invoices before they
go out to ensure costs are charged to the correct client.
Submitting bills to the wrong client compromises the integrity
of your bills and may cause the client to be concerned that you're
violating attorney-client confidences in the mix-up.
6) Send invoices monthly. You need monthly
income to pay your staff and office expenses. Invoices also serve
as a status report and remind the client of all your work on the
matter during that month. You'll also determine (sooner rather
than later) when a client can't or won't pay a bill.
7) Send the final bill to the client ASAP.
If the client is due to receive a large sum at the conclusion
of the case, you want to get paid before the funds are dissipated.
Conversely, if the client has to pay a large sum (or go bankrupt)
this may be your last chance to get paid.
8) Make your clients happy to pay legal fees
by bombarding them with paper. Whenever possible convert your
advice to stationery and send copies of memos, statutes, pleadings,
and correspondence.
In setting fees:
9) Be sure to mention fees at your first meeting. Assure
clients that they should never be embarrassed or ashamed to discuss
fees with you.
10) Be firm no matter what method of setting
fees you use. If you're uncertain or wishy-washy, clients will
lose confidence in you. Use phrases like "per my standard fee"
or "in cases like this."
11) Don't ask clients what the fee should
be. This is one way to guarantee they will find another lawyer.
12) Distinguish between your uncertainty in
the total fee and certainty in the manner of setting the fee.
When it's impossible to tell the client the total cost of your
legal services, you can still confidently set the method of computing
their fee.
13) Don't back down when the client suggests
a lesser fee. What you consider an accommodation, the client
will interpret as an instance of overcharging or dishonesty.
14) Don't be swayed by what the client says
another lawyer charges. Usually there is no other lawyer-at
least not one in whom the client had any confidence.
15) Don't be tempted by the client who wants
you to take a case at a reduced fee with the promise of more
cases later at your requested rate if you do a good job on the
first case. There will be no later cases. Make it known that every
piece of work has to stand on its own and pay its own way. High-quality
work can't be handled at low-quality fees.
Excerpted, in part, from How to Start
and Build a Law Practice, Millennium Fourth Edition, by Jay
G. Foonberg. 1999. Law Practice Management Section. PC #511-0415,
paper; PC #511-0414, hardbound.
READY RESOURCES Improving Accounts Receivable
Collection: A Practical System. 1990. Law Practice Management
Section. PC #511-0273. To order either title, call 800/285-2111
or visit www.abanet.org/lpm/catalog.
