{"id":19838,"date":"2021-06-29T15:03:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T19:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gutenberg-atl.staging.breakingmedia.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?p=19838"},"modified":"2021-06-30T14:17:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T18:17:05","slug":"the-legal-tech-to-english-dictionary-time-billing-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2021\/06\/29\/the-legal-tech-to-english-dictionary-time-billing-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legal Tech-To-English Dictionary: Time, Billing & Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ed. note<\/u>: This is the latest\u00a0installment of The Legal Tech-to-English Dictionary, part of our Non-Event for Tech-Perplexed Lawyers<\/a>. Jared Correia is the host of the Non-Eventcast.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a term for when attorneys use Latin and other arcane languages to describe legal processes to consumers: \u201clegalese.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no similar term for when vendors use technical and other arcane languages to describe their legal software operations to lawyers.<\/p>\n

True, this dynamic may seem unfair. But now we have The Legal Tech-to-English Dictionary to help us cope.<\/p>\n

Read on for the latest installment, where we translate time, billing, and payment software-related topics to plain English.<\/p>\n

.1<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Law firm billing nomenclature indicating a 6-minute increment = 1\/10th of an hour. Because, weirdly, lawyers actually bill like this.
\n2. 6 minutes.
\n3. Something lawyers add to their invoices to confuse clients.<\/p>\n

Husband: I just got this bill from the law firm. What does ‘.1’ mean?<\/em><\/p>\n

Wife: 1\/10th?<\/em><\/p>\n

Husband: Oh, okay. So, 1\/10th of an hour?<\/em><\/p>\n

Wife: Right.<\/em><\/p>\n

Husband: Okay. $75 for every 6 minutes equals . . .<\/em><\/p>\n

Wife: $750 per hour?<\/em><\/p>\n

Husband: &%^$$%@&*%$*&<\/em><\/p>\n

Cf. Because this<\/a> is how your clients see you.<\/p>\n

Prebill<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. A process by which staff and attorneys review invoices prior to finalizing and sending same to clients.
\n2. <\/span>The edited versions of an invoice used prior to the finalized version.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawy<\/span><\/i>er 1: <\/span>How\u2019s the prebill coming along?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Legal Assistant 1:<\/span> I haven\u2019t gotten it from you in the mail yet.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> . . .<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Legal Assistant 1:<\/span> Did you mail it yet?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> . . .<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Legal Assistant 1:<\/span> It wouldn\u2019t happen to still be on your desk right now, would it?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> . . .<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> Um, sorry, my line is cutting out.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Cf. Time and billing softwares allow law firms to manage the prebill process electronically, via system features that can accommodate draft invoice edits, commenting tools, and restricted access criteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

ePayments<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Payment options available in an entirely electronic format, including credit and debit cards, ACH and eCheck.
\n2.<\/span>\u00a0You\u2019re gonna make me say <\/span>Dogecoin<\/span><\/a>, too?
\n3.<\/span>\u00a0And, <\/span>NFTs<\/span><\/a>?\u00a0 Have you no soul?<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> We\u2019ve got a client outside who wants to pay us by giving us a “non-fungible token.” Apparently, it\u2019s an image of a piece of oatmeal that he colored bright orange and placed on the tip of a beautiful CGI-rendered unicorn horn.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 2: <\/span>. . .<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> I\u2019ll just ask him for a check.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Alternative Fee Arrangement<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Any law firm payment option that is not an hourly billing arrangement.
\n2.<\/span>\u00a0Yes, lawyers <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> this dedicated to the hourly billing model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> Can we talk about adding some alternative pricing models?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 2:<\/span> We could . . . charge for every 3 minutes we work, instead of every 6?\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> That\u2019s not exactly what I had in mind.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Cf. Since literally everything other than hourly billing rates are viewed as “alternative” fee arrangements, those alternative options are endless, including flat fees, evergreen retainers (client reups retainer amount on monthly basis), risk collars (lawyer goes over a predicted fee amount, client gets a discounted rate; under, lawyer gets a success fee), subscription fees, and <\/span>products<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accounts Receivable<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Uncollected billing, often reported on by the length of time the items have been in arrears, e.g., 30-, 60-, 90-days late.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bookkeeper 1:<\/span> Our accounts receivable report indicates that we have $225,000 that is more than 90 days overdue.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> When was the last time we sent out invoices?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Bookkeeper 1:<\/span> 6 months ago.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyer 1:<\/span> Well, shit.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Bookkeeper 1:<\/span> I believe you\u2019ve cracked the case, Mr. Holmes.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Cf. <\/span>What happens when you collect your A\/R<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cf. ePayments \u2013 Collect automated payments by credit card, and you won\u2019t have any A\/R.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Jared Correia, a consultant and legal technology expert, is the host of the Non-Eventcast, the featured podcast of the Above the Law Non-Event for Tech-Perplexed Lawyers.\u00a0<\/i><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take a ‘.1’ break and browse topics from ePayments to AFAs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136517,"featured_media":19874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[8456,3277,1292,9236,329,8849,9002,7,4091,8813],"class_list":["post-19838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-atl-non-event","tag-jared-correia","tag-legal-operations","tag-legal-tech-to-english-dictionary","tag-legal-technology","tag-non-event","tag-non-eventcast","tag-technology","tag-time","tag-time-billing-payments"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Legal Tech-To-English Dictionary: Time, Billing & Payments - Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2021\/06\/29\/the-legal-tech-to-english-dictionary-time-billing-payments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Legal Tech-To-English Dictionary: Time, Billing & Payments - 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