What’s new in LeanLaw this month?
(Beta) Completion Based Fixed Fees
We're introducing a new way of creating fixed fees to streamline the billing process for fixed fee matters. This new feature empowers LeanLaw users to effortlessly track time entries associated with fixed fees on a matter. With the ability to create fixed fees that are completion-based, users gain unprecedented flexibility and accuracy in managing their billing processes.
The Completion-Based Fixed Fee Billing feature offers three key functionalities that transform the way legal professionals handle their billing:
Creating Completion-Based Fixed Fees: Legal firms can now create fixed fees that don't have a known end date from the start. This empowers legal professionals to adapt to the dynamic nature of their work, ensuring that fees accurately reflect the completion of tasks or projects. Instead of a date-based fixed fee, users can now create an "On-Completion" fixed fee that will remain hidden from Ready to Bill until your firm marks it complete.
Tracking Time Entries Against Specific Fixed Fees: LeanLaw's new feature allows attorneys and timekeepers to seamlessly track time entries against specific fixed fees, offering granular insights into resource allocation and facilitating more accurate billing. With this enhanced visibility, legal professionals can monitor progress and identify areas of improvement.
Flexible Allocation of Time Entries: Completion-Based Fixed Fee Billing enables attorneys and timekeepers to easily switch and assign time entries to different fixed fees. This capability ensures that billing remains accurate and aligned with the evolving needs of the legal matter.
We're anticipating a general release for completion based fixed fees later this month, but contact us now if you're interested in participating in its beta version!
COMING SOON: Rate Groups
LeanLaw's new Rate Group feature is designed to empower firms to efficiently handle the complexity of rate management, saving valuable time and streamlining workflows.
Managing rates in a firm with multiple attorneys has long been a complex and labor-intensive process. Manual work for common tasks such as opening a new client/matter, adding a new user, or updating firm rates yearly has proven to be time-consuming and prone to errors. Recognizing these challenges, our dedicated team has developed the game-changing "Rate Groups" feature to address these pain points head-on.
"Rate Groups" provides users with the ability to set standard groups of legal rates, which can be effortlessly applied to any time entered into the system. With this feature, firms can configure multiple rates and specify which standard rates apply to specific clients and matters, as well as define date ranges for the rates to be in effect. The result is a comprehensive and intuitive solution that simplifies rate management across the organization.
Key Benefits of "Rate Groups" include:
Streamlined Workflow: By automating common rate management tasks, such as setting individual rates for each user or updating rates for multiple matters, "Rate Groups" significantly reduces manual effort, allowing billing administrators to focus on more strategic activities.
Time Savings: The time-consuming process of updating rates yearly or adjusting rates for new clients/matters is simplified, enabling billing administrators to save valuable hours that can be redirected towards more productive endeavors.
Accuracy and Consistency: With standardized rate groups, firms can ensure accurate and consistent billing practices, minimizing errors and improving client satisfaction.
Enhanced Flexibility: "Rate Groups" offers the flexibility to configure and customize rates based on specific client requirements and date ranges, empowering firms to cater to individual client needs while maintaining efficiency.
If you are interested in participating in our beta release of this feature, please contact us now.
API support: create clients and matters
We've added more tools to our public API. You can now create clients and matters in your LeanLaw firm through API calls. This new API support allows tech savvy firms to create a client and/or matter in their CRM software and have the same thing be created in LeanLaw through an integration service like zapier.
Update history
As always, we’ve also been hard at work to squash bugs and improve the user experience. Here are the patch notes for our development.
June 30, 2023
Attached Trust Statements will now be updated if a user records a payment from trust after the trust statement was generated.
Fixed an issue where draft invoices would fail to be created in some cases for fixed fee matters.
Fixed an issue where the client and matter dropdowns would be disabled while the Show Matters Involving filter's Responsible checkbox was checked.
Fixed an issue on the Ready to Bill page where all drafts could fail to be created if the user attempted to create 1 invalid draft in the batch.
Fixed an issue where some draft invoices would show $0 in their Total column.
June 28, 2023
Fixed an issue on the Create Invoices page where clicking the Quick Create button at the client level could cause a draft to be created for matters that were hidden by the Show Matters Involving filter.
June 22, 2023
Fixed an issue where, if a user manually entered a minute amount into a timer, the timer would not reset its seconds value to zero. This would cause the timer to always round up to the next increment.
June 21, 2023
Fixed an issue where some timekeepers could not create time entries.
June 20, 2023
Added more protections against duplicate invoices being created in QuickBooks.
Added support for creating clients and matters through our public API.
Fixed an issue where the Invoice Summary window did not have a row for Administrative fees, and Taxes were not being included in its Invoice Total number.
Fixed an issue where selecting a Distribution filter and then leaving the report could cause your distribution filter to apply to other reports, preventing you from changing the Time Period filter.
June 7, 2023
Fixed an issue that prevented some firms from adding or removing users.
Fixed an issue where the trust balance associated with an invoice sometimes wouldn't appear on the Manage Invoices page.
June 2, 2023
Fixed an issue where inviting new users to the firm or editing existing users, without these users having customized initials, would give these users your initials.
Fixed an issue where Gravity Legal payment receipts were being sent to clients when a user recorded a payment for that client in LeanLaw. We have also reactivated the logic which was deactivated on May 31st, meaning that payments from trust will now properly reduce payment links again.
June 1, 2023
Fixed an issue where some billable items were “left behind” when invoicing.
Looking for more changes? You can find last month's release notes here.