Law-firm billing depends on matter terms, trust handling, and coded detail. Everhour keeps rates and time connected.
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Law firms need invoices that tie every charge to a client, matter, fee agreement, and billing period. The finished bill should show the agreed fee basis or rate, responsible attorney or timekeeper, itemized work, client-responsible expenses, payment terms, and any prior trust or retainer activity that affects the balance due.
The invoice is also a client communication. ABA Model Rule 1.5 requires lawyers to communicate the scope of representation and the basis or rate of fees and client-responsible expenses, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after representation begins. The invoice should follow that agreement, not invent a new billing basis after work is done.
A practical legal invoice starts with firm and client details, invoice date, invoice number, matter name or number, billing period, payment instructions, and terms. Time entries should identify the date, timekeeper, task, description, hours, rate, and amount. Expense lines should separate court costs, filing fees, travel, research, or other client-responsible charges.
A sample litigation line can read: March 5, 2026, associate, draft motion to compel, 2.4 hours at $275, $660. That line gives the client the date, role, work performed, time, rate, and extended amount. Short narratives work best when they explain the value of the work without disclosing unnecessary strategy, privileged detail, or sensitive representation information.
Advance legal fees and expenses paid by a client belong in a client trust account until earned or incurred. The invoice should make trust activity visible with careful labels, such as previous advance, fees earned this period, expenses incurred, amount applied from trust, and remaining trust balance. Complete client-account records must be preserved for five years after representation ends under ABA Model Rule 1.15.
Contingent-fee matters need different treatment. The agreement must be in writing, signed by the client, state the percentage or percentages, and explain whether litigation and other expenses come out before or after the fee calculation. At the end of a contingent-fee matter, the client must receive a written outcome and remittance statement showing any recovery and how the client amount was determined.
A one-off invoice works for a small fixed-fee matter, a single consultation, or a simple expense reimbursement. It breaks down when several timekeepers work across matters, clients require UTBMS task, activity, and expense codes, or partners need to review unbilled work before the bill goes out.
Everhour supports a managed billing workflow by separating cost and billable rates, setting per-person defaults, applying per-project overrides, preserving dated rate history, and pricing billable work by project, member, or task. That structure helps a firm turn approved matter time into invoices without rebuilding rate tables by hand every billing cycle.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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A law-firm invoice should identify the firm, client, matter, invoice date, invoice number, billing period, payment terms, and remittance details. Time-based bills should show date, timekeeper, work description, hours, rate, and amount. Expense lines should identify the charge and client responsibility. The bill should match the communicated fee basis or rate.
Trust-account activity should appear when an advance fee or expense deposit affects the amount owed. The invoice can show fees earned, expenses incurred, funds applied from trust, and the remaining trust balance. Advance legal fees and expenses must stay in a client trust account until earned or incurred.
Billing narratives should avoid unnecessary disclosure of representation information. A useful narrative names the work performed, such as drafting a motion or reviewing discovery, without revealing privileged strategy, sensitive facts, or confidential client objectives. Lawyers must make reasonable efforts to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized access to information relating to representation.
LEDES and UTBMS codes are used when a client requires legal e-billing, especially corporate legal departments and insurers. LEDES 1998B uses 24 pipe-delimited fields, and UTBMS codes classify task, activity, and expense entries. A local consumer matter usually uses a standard itemized invoice instead.
The United States does not use a national VAT or GST invoice regime. Sales and use tax obligations come from state and local rules, and service taxability varies by state and service type. A law firm should apply the tax treatment required by the relevant jurisdiction, engagement terms, and service category.
Everhour separates internal cost rates from client-facing billable rates, with per-person defaults and per-project overrides. Rate changes can be dated, so older reports keep their original calculations while new matter work uses the current rate.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing converts tracked billable time and expenses into client invoices. Invoice lines can be grouped by project, task, person, date, or other available breakdowns, and non-billable work stays out of the billable total.
Use Everhour to keep dated rates, matter time, and billable work connected from entry to invoice, reducing manual billing cleanup.
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