The LeanLaw Blog
Legal billing, trust accounting, and law-firm finance — straight from the people building the tools.
- Law Firm Best Practices
Profit per Partner: How to Calculate It at a Small or Midsize Law Firm (and What It Hides)
How to calculate profit per partner at a 5–50 attorney firm, a worked illustration, and what the number hides before it reaches a compensation conversation.
October 28, 2026 - Billing
A Day-by-Day Test Plan for a Legal Billing Software Free Trial
Most software trials end with someone clicking around and running out of time. Here is a day-by-day plan for testing legal billing software on a real matter, plus how to check what a trial can't show you.
October 27, 2026 - Law Firm Best Practices
Open vs. Closed Partner Compensation: What Each System Needs From Your Numbers
Open systems show partners each other's pay and the data behind it; closed systems keep it with the committee. What each requires from your numbers, the common hybrids, and how to choose.
October 27, 2026 - Billing
The Total Cost of Legal Billing Software: What to Compare Beyond the Per-User Price
The per-user price is the smallest number in a legal billing software decision. Here's what to compare instead: seats, tier gates, payment fees, setup, accounting, double entry, switching costs, and the revenue side.
October 27, 2026 - Legal Practice Management · Billing
MyCase and LeanLaw: Running Case Management and Billing Side by Side
For firms that like MyCase for their cases but need more from billing and accounting: how MyCase and LeanLaw split the work, what the Zapier connection creates, and where the handoff lives.
October 20, 2026 - Law Firm Best Practices
How to Get Partner Buy-In for New Legal Billing Software
A practical guide for firm administrators and operations leads: how to build the case for new legal billing software in your partners' own numbers, answer their objections, and propose a pilot with a decision date.
October 20, 2026 - Billing
How to Run a Legal Billing Software Demo on Your Own Matters
Vendor demos run on perfect sample data. Here is how to bring your own messy matters to a legal billing software demo, what to ask the presenter to click through live, and who should be in the room.
October 19, 2026 - Billing · Hourly
Realization by Timekeeper: What Partners Should Look at Before Comp Season
Firm-level realization hides who is writing time down and why. How to break it out by working attorney and billing partner, the three patterns to look for, and how to raise them.
October 19, 2026 - Legal Practice Management · Billing
Clio and LeanLaw Together: Clio for the Case, LeanLaw for the Money
How firms run Clio and LeanLaw side by side: who owns what, what the Zapier connection moves from Clio, what it doesn't, and where double entry still lives.
October 16, 2026 - Law Firm Best Practices · Billing
Should Partner Compensation Be Based on Billed or Collected Revenue?
Billed revenue rewards activity; collected revenue ties pay to cash. How each basis handles timing, write-offs, and origination credit, and what the data has to show either way.
October 16, 2026 - Billing
Past-Due Invoice Reminders for Law Firms: What to Say at 30, 60, and 90 Days
Sample past-due invoice reminders for law firms at 30, 60, and 90 days, with guidance on who sends each one, what the 90-day decision involves, and the ethics rules that shape collection messages.
October 8, 2026 - Billing
LEDES 1998B vs. XML: Which LEDES Format Your Clients' E-Billing System Wants
LEDES 1998B, 1998BI, and the LEDES XML 2.x formats explained for billing administrators: what each one is, where UTBMS codes fit, how to confirm what a client's e-billing system accepts, and why e-bills get rejected.
October 8, 2026 - Billing · Hourly
Time Tracking for Family Law Attorneys: Retainers, Hybrid Matters, and the Hours in Between
How family law attorneys can capture the late-night calls and short check-ins that never get entered, keep evergreen retainers replenished on time, and bill hybrid matters clients can follow.
October 8, 2026 - Billing · Hourly
How Lawyers Track Billable Hours Automatically, and What "Automatic" Really Means
Timers, reconstruction from calendar and email, and passive capture all promise to track billable hours automatically. Here is what each one captures, what it misses, and the review that stays with the lawyer.
October 7, 2026 - Billing · Accounting
Law Firm Expense Tracking: How Filing Fees and Advanced Costs Get Billed Back (or Lost)
Why client costs like filing fees end up lost and not billed, and how matter-level expense tracking, clear cost policies, and a pre-bill review get them onto the invoice.
October 7, 2026 - Trust Accounting
Can Software Prevent Trust Accounting Errors? What It Catches and What It Can't
An honest answer on what trust accounting software can make structural, which mistakes still depend on people, and why the difference matters to the lawyer whose name is on the account.
October 6, 2026 - Trust Accounting
Multi-State Trust Accounting Rules: What Changes When Your Firm Crosses State Lines
A practical guide for firm administrators at firms with lawyers licensed in more than one state: which state's trust rules apply, where trust accounts can live, and what tends to differ.
October 6, 2026 - Trust Accounting · Billing
Pay From Trust: How Law Firms Apply Retainer Funds to an Invoice
The order of operations for paying an invoice from a client's retainer: what has to be true before money leaves trust, how to handle partial balances and disputes, and how the records should match.
October 5, 2026 - Trust Accounting
IOLTA Deposits: What Goes In, What Doesn't, and the Deposit That Causes Trouble
A practical guide to IOLTA deposits for firm administrators: which client funds belong in the account, what never goes in, and how to record each deposit so the ledger ties out.
October 5, 2026 - Accounting · Trust Accounting
Lawyer Trust Accounting: A Practical Guide to Client Funds
What lawyer trust accounting means, how three-way reconciliation works, mistakes to watch for, and how a connected billing workflow can help.
October 5, 2026 - Legal Practice Management
How LeanLaw Is Building AI Into Legal Revenue Operations: A Conversation With Our CTO
LeanLaw CTO Fred Willerup on what's shipping, what's in private beta, and where he draws the line on AI that touches billing and trust accounting.
September 30, 2026 - Trust Accounting
Can a Single Payment Be Split Between Trust and Operating?
A payment covering both client trust funds and a firm's own money has to be split so the trust portion stays exact. Here's why that side is the strict one.
September 26, 2026 - Data
What Financial Data — WIP, AR, and Rates — Migrates Into LeanLaw?
Invoice-by-invoice history stays in QuickBooks Online. Here's what actually moves into LeanLaw: open work-in-progress, receivables, and your rate structure.
September 26, 2026 - Trust Accounting
How Does LeanLaw Handle IOLTA Client Funds?
See how LeanLaw records IOLTA client funds, trust liabilities, and invoice payments in QuickBooks Online, with the firm's review still required.
September 26, 2026
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