Your settlement workflow.
Not a workaround.
LeanLaw built this workflow from scratch — for firms that don't bill by the hour and shouldn't have to operate like they do. Settlement processing, lien management, and case-profitability reporting: one connected experience, without the spreadsheets holding it together.
Settlement Wizard
Johnson v. Meridian Corp.
Gross Settlement
$485,000.00
Confirmed · Case #2024-PI-0847
Attorney Fee
$161,667
33.33% contingency
Total Liens
$42,380
3 providers
Client Net
$268,453
After all deductions
Lien Summary
- Mercy General Hospital Medical$28,400
- Medicare Reimbursement Federal$8,980
- Advanced Orthopedic Grp Medical$5,000
QuickBooks Online sync ready — disbursement entries mapped
PI and contingency-fee firms have been borrowing the wrong workflow for years — because nobody built them the right one.
Settlement processing runs across four systems because the tools weren't designed for how it actually works. Fee calculations happen manually because the system doesn't know which method applies. Liens live in spreadsheets because the billing tool doesn't track them. Settlement statements get produced in Word — editable after the fact, unconnected to your books.
When a case closes, there's often no way to know whether it was actually profitable without exporting data and starting over in Excel.
LeanLaw built the workflow contingency firms have been working around.
From matter open to disbursement — one experience.
The Settlement Wizard walks billing staff and paralegals through every step in under two minutes. No manual math. No switching between systems. No rechecking whether the lien numbers match what's in QuickBooks Online.
- 1
Enter Settlement
Enter the gross settlement amount and confirm the fee method — net of expenses or gross — set at the matter level. LeanLaw applies the correct calculation path automatically. Six paths are supported: three expense arrangements, two fee methods, configurable per matter.
- 2
Confirm Expenses
Hard costs and soft costs tracked throughout the matter pull forward automatically. Expenses and liens appear in separate sections — so disbursement math doesn't collapse the two, and the settlement statement reflects what actually happened.
- 3
Record Attorney Fee
The fee calculates based on the method and expense arrangement configured for this matter. No manual arithmetic. The correct percentage applies to the correct base, every time.
- 4
Review Liens
Liens tracked throughout the case lifecycle appear here — already finalized and separated from expenses before the statement is generated. Negotiated amounts, not the original figures, flow into the calculator.
- 5
Map Payments
Assign disbursements to payees. Lien payments push to QuickBooks Online as trust checks directly from LeanLaw — no manual entry per lienholder. A settlement that typically requires 5–15 minutes of manual entry across 3–8 lienholders takes a few clicks.
- 6
Generate Statement
A PDF generates automatically from matter data — showing deposits, fees, expenses, liens, and net proceeds to the client. The statement is locked at generation. Subsequent changes don't alter it; reprints return the same document.
Three capabilities. One experience.
Settlement Processing
From recovery entry to compliant statement: under two minutes, with automated fee calculation across six paths. The statement locks at generation, so there's no version-control problem and no audit exposure from an edited document.
Lien Management
Track liens from the day they arrive — not the night before disbursement. Record the payee, lien type, original amount, negotiated amount, and status, with a clear lifecycle (pending → negotiating → finalized → paid). A single source of truth per matter replaces disconnected spreadsheets and sub-ledgers.
Contingency Analytics Dashboard
After cases close, the Contingency Insights Dashboard surfaces what most PI firms can only get by exporting to Excel: case profitability, fee-recovery ratios, expense ratios, and average case duration — per case and in aggregate. The data partners are actually asking for.
34.1%
Avg Fee Recovery
18.4 mo
Avg Case Duration
$2.4M
Active Pipeline
Know which cases are worth taking.
Settlement volume tells you how busy the firm is. Profitability data tells you whether it's working. Most PI managing partners make case-selection decisions on instinct, because the data to do otherwise isn't accessible without manual work nobody has time for.
LeanLaw's Contingency Insights Dashboard changes that: fee-recovery ratios, case duration, and expense performance by case type — available at closeout, not at year-end when someone finally builds the spreadsheet.
Contingency Insights — Managing Partner View
YTD 2024Total Fee Revenue
$1.84M
↑ 18% vs last year
Cases Closed
47
↑ 8 vs last year
Avg Recovery Ratio
34.1%
↑ 1.4 pt
| Case Type | Cases | Avg Fee | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motor Vehicle Accident | 19 | $48,200 | 35.2% |
| Slip & Fall | 13 | $31,400 | 33.3% |
| Product Liability | 8 | $94,600 | 38.0% |
| Medical Malpractice | 7 | $122,800 | 34.5% |
We get paid when you get paid.
Most software charges a flat fee whether or not your cases close. LeanLaw prices the contingency workflow differently: 0.5% of ContingencyBilled per month — the attorney fee your firm actually earned, not the gross settlement, not client funds, not lien payments. Every tier has a monthly floor (so LeanLaw is there for slow months) and a monthly cap (so a strong month isn't a billing surprise).
| Firm Size | Seats | Annual Floor | Monthly Cap | Cap Triggers At |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | 1 | $360/yr | $200/mo | > $40K/mo ContingencyBilled |
| Small | 2–4 | $720/yr | $400/mo | > $80K/mo ContingencyBilled |
| Medium | 5–19 | $1,800/yr | $1,500/mo | > $300K/mo ContingencyBilled |
| Large | 20–49 | $4,800/yr | $5,000/mo | > $1M/mo ContingencyBilled |
| Whale | 50+ | $12,000/yr | $12,500/mo | > $2.5M/mo ContingencyBilled |
Questions about which tier fits your firm? That's a five-minute conversation, not a wall of math. Bring your approximate monthly settlement volume to the demo and we'll tell you exactly where you land.
What the market got wrong.
Every platform in this space either lacks a contingency-specific workflow, routes around QuickBooks Online to solve for trust compliance, or has a QuickBooks Online integration with documented problems. Those aren't edge cases — they're why firms are still processing settlements in spreadsheets and Word.
MyCase & TimeSolv
Solid platforms for hourly and flat-fee practices. Neither has a dedicated contingency settlement calculator, lien tracking, or a PI-specific workflow. Firms processing settlements in either tool today are doing it manually — usually without realizing a purpose-built option exists.
Clio + PI Add-On
Clio Manage supports contingency billing and its PI add-on generates settlement statements — but the QuickBooks Online sync is one-way, which can create duplicate entries and trust-reconciliation drift. Clio Accounting, its native ledger, is documented as designed for firms of up to four attorneys.
CASEpeer
Strong PI case management with excellent lien-negotiation analytics. But its recommended accounting path is a separate paid subscription (Soluno), and it is PI-only — firms handling hourly, flat-fee, and contingency work need a second billing platform alongside it.
SmartAdvocate
The most customizable settlement workflow and deep case management. Pricing requires a quote and typically an implementation fee; its QuickBooks Online sync is bidirectional but has documented limitations, and reviewers note a dated UI.
What LeanLaw built instead
Settlement processing, lien management, and case-profitability reporting — natively on QuickBooks Online, for firms that use it as their financial source of truth and want to keep it that way. For mixed-practice firms handling hourly, flat-fee, and contingency matters: one platform, one QuickBooks Online integration, one experience across every case type.
Further reading
More on contingency revenue, settlements, and case profitability from the LeanLaw blog.
- Article What Contingency Fee Firms Lose Between Case Open and Cash Collected Read →
- Article The Settlement Gap: How PI Firms Lose Revenue After Winning the Case Read →
- Article Lien Management for PI Firms: Where Revenue Goes After Settlement Read →
- Article Matter Profitability for PI Firms: How to Know if a Case Was Worth Taking Read →
Frequently asked questions
How does LeanLaw calculate contingency fees?
LeanLaw supports six fee-calculation paths — three expense arrangements and two fee methods, configurable per matter. Once the method is set at the matter level, LeanLaw applies the correct percentage to the correct base automatically, with a full audit trail.
Can LeanLaw manage liens on personal-injury settlements?
Yes. LeanLaw tracks each lien through its lifecycle — pending, negotiating, finalized, paid — records original and negotiated amounts, and flows the verified figures into the settlement calculator and statement.
Does LeanLaw generate settlement statements?
Yes. A settlement disbursement statement generates automatically from matter data and locks at generation, so it reflects verified amounts and reprints return the same document.
How is LeanLaw's contingency billing priced?
LeanLaw prices the contingency workflow at 0.5% of ContingencyBilled per month — the attorney fee your firm actually earned — with a monthly floor and cap per tier. Client funds, lien payments, and pass-through expenses are never part of the charge.
Does contingency billing require QuickBooks Online?
Yes. LeanLaw is built on QuickBooks Online as the financial source of truth, so settlement disbursements and trust transactions post to your books in real time.
The workflow exists. The workarounds don't have to.
LeanLaw Contingency is live. If you're processing settlements across four systems, applying fee calculations manually, or producing settlement statements in Word — this is 30 minutes that pays for itself on the first case you close. One thing to know upfront: LeanLaw requires QuickBooks Online — it's the financial source of truth the workflow runs on.
91.4% avg
Fee realization per case type
vs Firm Avg
Settlement velocity benchmarking
Avg 14.2 mo
Case duration tracking by stage