Financially Legal

Credit cards are a great way to get paid more quickly. The Clio trends report shows that firms who accept credit cards get paid 39% faster than those that don't. 

But credit cards are expensive. For invoice or trust payments where the client enters the card, rather than swiping or dipping, the cost generally hovers around 3%. Furthermore, credit cards are not the only way to provide a high-quality online payment experience.  

Shopping around for better rates can save you a few tenths of a percent, but here are two changes you can make to drastically reduce card fees while still getting the benefit of speedy payments. 

I know you didn’t go to law school to manage financials or be an accountant, but it turns out that your ability to successfully support and represent your clients is contingent upon running a sound business. And Chelsea Williams, founder and head of Core Solutions Group, is dropping some wisdom about how to manage your firm’s finances so that you can worry less about money and more about your clients. 

Managing accounts receivable is important when times are good. But when times are tough, how effectively firms turn accounts receivable into cash can be the difference between going under and thriving.

Expert law firm financial consultant, Chelsea Williams of Core Solutions Group has an excellent video outlining four tips for effective accounts receivable management. Below is a summary, but we highly recommend checking out the video.

Subscriptions services for a law-firm? It might be what your clients are looking for.

Jon Tobin is running one of the most innovative law firms you’ve never heard of. Counsel For Creators is an LA-based law firm for creatives and entrepreneurs that sells a subscription to clients. In this episode of Financially Legal we talk with Jon about the inspiration behind his subscription legal services plan, how he made it a reality, how (amazingly) it’s morphing into a profitable, self-sustaining community, how he calls his clients members and what’s next for his bold firm.  

Dan Price is a big deal. Full stop. And we got him on the podcast!

Dan is the inspirational CEO of Gravity Payments. In 2015 Dan raised the salaries of each of his employees at Gravity Payments to $70,000 annually and, in doing so, he became an overnight business celebrity. He’s been on the Today Show, been interviewed by Trevor Noah, and keynoted hundreds of business conferences around the world. He breaks down how he thinks about company culture, why Gravity Payments is investing in Gravity Legal, and how he thinks lawyers can change the world.

Starting back on March 23, RJon Robins of How To Manage a Small Law Firm held a series of free daily phone conversations with lawyers  in response to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. RJon was his typically direct but his message was hopeful: there is opportunity out there for lawyers and law firms .

In this episode of Clio Matters, Dan discusses different ways firms are navigating the new remote work environment. He lists helpful technology resources and tells us whose ideas he's leaning on amidst the chaos (Nate Silver and RJon Robins of How to Manage a Small Law Firm to name a few).  

We get nerdy this episode talking accounting, trust accounting, and regulatory jazz with Lainie Hammond.  Lainie runs a law firm in Washington State helping lawyers with issues related to IOLTA trust account compliance.

Our lives and livelihoods have changed dramatically over the last two weeks. We’re all hopeful for a swift and significant rebound, but proactive measures will carry the day. Action in crisis can provide a feeling of purpose and normalcy amidst the potentially overwhelming uncertainty. It can also be the difference between going under and thriving.    

There are three sets of rules lawyers need to navigate  when deciding whether to charge clients a fee for paying with a credit card:

Whether your firm is in need of financial assistance or you are working to advise clients through these difficult times, we've compiled a list of local, state and national Covid 19 financial relief programs. 

Today, we're excited to have a conversation with John E. Grant, the Agile Attorney. John is a compelling thinker when it comes to law firm economics, law firm efficiency, and law firm productivity. 

Welcome to the very first episode of Financially Legal, with your host, Dan Lear, head of partnerships and marketing at Gravity Legal. 

Oklahoma Attorney General, Mike Hunter, in a recent opinion said a state ban on surcharging is most-likely unconstitutional. Surcharging is the practice of charging an additional fee when clients pay by credit card.

Clients should know what it costs law firms to accept credit cards, and those clients should have the option to save money by paying with less expensive methods. Since card brand surcharging rules prevent firms from charging more for the surcharge than the amount of the transaction, it ends up not being a money-making scheme but a clear way to communicate how much those airline miles really cost.

Getting clients to pay isn’t easy. As more invoices remain outstanding, accounts receivable creeps upward. As an attorney responsible for the firm's financial success, it's important to understand the real cost of accounts receivable. Here's a simple way to estimate those costs.