Financially Legal is a twice-monthly podcast with accompanying articles on the financial aspects of the business of law. Host, Dan Lear, talks with law firm leaders, academics, business professionals and thought leaders to provide compelling and provocative insights at the intersection of finance, economics, and law.
Topics: Business of Law
Do you have practice management or accounting software that does your trust accounting? Great. This post is NOT for you.
Topics: Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Let's face it. Most bankers have no idea what an IOLTA account is. These types of accounts are an afterthought - one of those banking products that gets little attention. We hear horror stories of banks regularly debiting fees from IOLTA accounts or sending erroneous overdraft notifications to the Bar. We recently spoke to a firm that had to call their bank to speak with a real live human being every time they wanted to check their IOLTA balance.
Topics: Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
We believe lawyers and law firms have the power to change the world. Every day we interact with lawyers making positive change, sticking up for the underdog and expanding access to the justice system. But we recognize there can be tradeoffs between pursuing these aims and paying the bills.
Topics: Business of Law
Millions of business use QuickBooks as their accounting platform. From sole proprietors to large corporations, from cobblers to manufacturing firms, QuickBooks users come from all corners of the business world. With QuickBooks serving such a diverse set of clients, there are certain industries and business types with unique accounting needs that QuickBooks doesn't fully support out-of-the-box. Law firms fit into this category.
Topics: Accounting, QuickBooks Integration, QuickBooks, Business of Law
Trust or IOLTA accounts evoke feelings of fear and frustration. Untangling trust accounting mistakes can devour precious hours, and the risk of running afoul of the rules of professional conduct is constant. Yet for all the bad, retainers (in particular evergreen retainers) are one of the top ways to improve your firm’s collection rate. With collection rates averaging around 85% according to the 2021 Clio Trends Report, collections is a major financial drain on the legal industry.
Topics: Business of Law
Whether a client unilaterally decided not to pay your firm, or you made a legitimate mistake in your billing process, disputes or chargebacks on credit card transactions do occur. The card brands have processes in place for settling these disputes, and this article outlines the actions your firm can take after receiving notice of a chargeback. For information on how to avoid chargebacks, see How to Protect Your Law Firm from Chargebacks.
Topics: Business of Law
This is a guest post by law firm financial expert Brandy Derrick of Legal Ease Bookkeeping.
Every career has its own set of lingo, special terms, and years of learning to master. Attorneys work very hard to become skilled in their field, mastering enormous amounts of knowledge, terminology, and concepts. Although busy with his or her practice, an attorney would do well to learn the basic terms of the financial statements. Understanding each one will help an attorney profit and make adjustments in business.
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, Business of Law
Although electronic payments are not relevant for every firm, most law firms do at least a portion of their business by issuing ongoing invoices. For these firms, the data is clear: Electronic payments matter.
Topics: Business of Law
Subscriptions were the name of the game when Dan Lear recently chatted with Houston Estate Planning attorney John Strohmeyer, the namesake of Strohmeyer Law, on John's podcast, Five Star Counsel.
Topics: Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Allison Williams, the Law Firm Mentor, helps law firms grow and reach their full potential. Her podcast, Crushing Chaos, tackles all sorts of issues lawyers face while working to grow their firms.
Topics: Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Even with the effects of COVID still lingering, we as attorneys have an opportunity to make 2021 our firms' best year yet. Join Gravity Legal and law firm financial consultant Devon Thurtle Anderson of Skepsis Technologies as we explore the unique opportunities 2021 offers for law firms. We'll discuss how firms can seize these opportunities to realize both short and long-term growth. Spoiler alert: Our strategies don't require raising rates or working more hours! In fact, we specifically recommend against that.
Some of the topics we'll cover include:
Topics: Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Zapier is a no-code platform that helps businesses and individuals automate work by connecting different applications. But don't let "no-code" fool you. There is a learning curve associated with Zapier. This post explains the basics of Zapier and how it works with Gravity Legal. If you want to go one level deeper and see some examples of legal-specific Zaps as well learn more about the "why" of Zapier, check out our recent longer-form post on automating legal payments with Zapier.
Topics: Business of Law, Integrations, Zapier
A chargeback is a credit card processing term for a transaction that is processed successfully but is later reversed. This article is focused on how to limit chargebacks before they occur. If your law firm has already received a chargeback notification, see How to Dispute a Chargeback for Law Firms.
Topics: Business of Law
For many law firms, credit card processing fees are a sizeable item on the income statement. Because there are a variety of different types of processing fees, it can be difficult to determine exactly how much a firm is paying and how those fees can be reduced.
This event is designed for accounting and financial consulting professionals who work with and advise law firms. We will cover:
Topics: Firm Financials, Credit Card Fees, Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Recently, our team invited seasoned litigator Diana Siri Breaux, a partner at Summit Law Group in Seattle, to interview Gravity’s founder and CEO Dan Price about this very topic. As a longtime business owner, Dan has his fair share of experience with the legal system. In 2016, that experience reached new levels when Dan’s brother and co-founder, Lucas Price, took him to court after alleging that Dan’s decisions as CEO--including the decision to raise Gravity’s minimum wage to $70,000 a year--had cost him money as a minority shareholder. At stake was not just millions of dollars but the very existence of the company--and the jobs of its 120+ employees.
Topics: Firm Financials, Business and Culture, Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Many law firms use QuickBooks as their accounting solution. Some firms even use QuickBooks to send invoices. But QuickBooks as a complete time-keeping and billing solution?
Topics: QuickBooks, Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
Have you ever been caught in the middle of a case with no idea what your client is thinking? Take this opportunity to get inside the mind of a CEO who's been there.
In this virtual event, Diana Siri Breaux, partner at Summit Law Group in Seattle, interviews CEO Dan Price of Gravity Payments to uncover the answers to these and many other questions:
Topics: Business and Culture, Gravity Legal News
This September I had the pleasure of speaking to the innovative lawyers, mediators and greater dispute resolution community members at the American Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Tech Expo.
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, IOLTA, Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
This is a guest post by divorce attorney and firm owner, Russell Knight, of Chicago, Illinois.
Almost all lawyers have a retainer or a large initial payment for legal services. Lawyers and clients enter into engagement agreements which specify how that retainer or payment is to be accounted for. Specifically, the money will be applied towards the lawyer’s hourly billing or specifically itemized tasks.
Topics: Firm Financials, Business of Law
I’ve put it off all week, but the time has come. I need to pay our law firm. They do great work and have helped protect our company during difficult times. But paying their bill is not a pleasurable experience.
Topics: Firm Financials, Business and Culture, Business of Law
Law firms are unique. They have unique processes and strange, sometimes archaic, rules governing the way to handle money. As a result, it's prudent for a law firm to ensure that any electronic payment processor understands and complies with these rules. Below are the most important items to check.
Topics: Credit Card Fees, Business of Law
Collection rate is defined as the revenue you actually collect into your operating bank account divided by the total amount invoiced. Typical collection rates for law firms are around 85%, but they vary markedly by firm. Increasing your collection rate is a great way to earn more without actually doing any additional work.
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, IOLTA, Business of Law
Dan Lear was recently interviewed by Mark Homer of legal marketing firm GNGF. Dan and Mark dove into many different topics including:
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, IOLTA, Accounting, Business and Culture, Business of Law, Gravity Legal News
This week Dan Lear and Emery Wager joined Erin Levine of Hello Divorce and Liam Moriarty of Lawgood to talk the future Legal Tech.
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, Business and Culture, Gravity Legal News
Written By Devon Thurtle Anderson, CEO of Financial Consulting Firm, Skepsis
When I first left my law practice to become a law firm bookkeeper and financial strategist, I was shocked to discover how many law firms struggle with cashflow. Even more surprising was that this struggle isn’t just limited to a few seemingly rag-tag solo general practice firms. To the contrary, when I had a chance to look under the hood at dozens of law firms’ books and financial records – including law firms I had always seen as hugely successful – I learned that almost every law firm has a cashflow problem within any given 12-month period. So, as part of my bookkeeping and consulting services, I set out to change that.
Topics: Firm Financials, Credit Card Fees, Key Performance Metrics, IOLTA, Accounting, Invoices, Business of Law
By Dan Price
This article was originally published on the Attorney Action Club.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already terrible inequality we have in the United States. Prior to the outbreak, income inequality was the highest it had been in fifty years. Now, with more than 30 million people unemployed, it’s likely to get even higher for the foreseeable future.
Topics: Business and Culture, Business of Law
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.
Topics: Firm Financials, Credit Card Fees, Business of Law
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.
Topics: Firm Financials, Key Performance Metrics, Business of Law
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