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Scott Benton: Hey everyone, Scott Benton here. How are you? I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast where we help you easily transition from a law school student into your professional career as an attorney and where we happen to make the law fun.
Now today we’re going to take a look at building trust through transparent billing.
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Scott Benton: Today in order to help assist your overall use of the success cycle, which is what we talk about on this podcast. We’re going to look at building trust through transparent billing. Transparent billing is that part of the process and the success cycle that comes at the end where you’ve completed performing a legal service.
And now you’re going to log that back in. Time for the specific service that you’ve completed before returning back to the to do list to get the next task in line that you’re then going to perform. This is the whole cycle of what constitutes the practice of law. That’s why we’ve built the success cycle model.
that has three parts, the to do list, or what we call the G sheet. G sheet stands for get it done sheet. That equals a to do list. So we’ve got the first part, which is the to do list. Then you’re going to perform the legal service. Then you’re going to bill for the legal service and get paid and start all over [00:02:00] again.
But here we want to look at the importance of building relationships with your clients, which transparent billing helps you accomplish. And we want to look at some of the problems that can come up with billing entries that we really want to stay away from. Building relationships is a key component to your overall work as an attorney.
So you really want to use every opportunity that you can to strengthen that bond between you and your client. Now, if they have trust in you as their attorney, then they’re going to continue working with you and will probably tell all their friends and family about you in glowing terms. So preserving that relationship and that bond of trust is essential.
And if you have that, you’re going to get that five star rating at the end of the work that you do together. Now, transparent billing reassures clients that they’re being charged fairly and accurately for the work that was performed. And it really helps build that all important foundation of trust, which is crucial for your long term client relationships and retention.
Clear and detailed [00:03:00] time entries are going to reduce any potential misunderstanding or disputes over billing. When clients can see exactly what work was done and why it was done and they can understand it, then they’re less likely to contest their invoices. Clients Are more likely to appreciate the value of your services that they’re receiving when they can see how the time is spent performing legal services. And that’s when transparency in billing is important because it highlights the effort and the expertise that you bring to the case.
Now, as for some of the common billing mistakes that undermine that trust, we want to look at some of those in order to avoid them. And the first one is going to be what’s called block billing. Block billing is a process where you group multiple tasks into a single time entry, which is going to do nothing but create confusion for your client.
It’s going to reduce your Trust that they have in you, and you really want to avoid block billing by breaking down tasks into specific [00:04:00] detailed time entries. You also want to avoid using vague descriptions, or broad language, or any unclear language like legal work without further explanation, which just really makes it difficult for your clients to understand what they’re paying for.
Legal work can be anything. So instead, you want to use precise descriptions like drafted and filed a motion to dismiss. So when it comes to your billing entries, you want to have a certain strategy for putting them together. And the first thing that you’re going to want to do is you want to break down time entries.
You want to provide detailed breakdowns of each task that you do. So, as an example, you might put, as one billing entry, Reviewed contract, 30 minutes. And then, a new billing entry you would put, Drafted settlement offer, 45 minutes. Now writing with clarity like this helps your clients see exactly what they’re paying for and that’s what they care about.
So if your billing entries are clear and they’re [00:05:00] descriptive, then when they look back over their invoices a year later, they’re going to remember exactly what they paid for. If the billing entries are vague, where your client really doesn’t understand what they paid for when they first opened up their billing statement, then you really open up the possibility of creating future problems. Billing entries can tell the story of the work that’s done on your client’s case. You can read it and understand it, they can read it and understand it, and anyone in your firm can read it and understand it, which is important. In other words, don’t just write three hours of work.
Specify each task performed during that time and the duration of it. You want to use clear, descriptive language. So detailed descriptions clarify the scope and complexity of your work. This helps clients better understand all the effort that’s involved in performing legal work, and they’re going to feel confident that they’re getting value for the money that they’re spending.
As always, you want to avoid jargon, and you want to explain tasks in plain, [00:06:00] simple, unambiguous language to make billing more accessible.to clients.
Frequent billing updates keep clients informed of case progress and they prevent surprise invoices. So when you talk to your clients on the phone or in person, you really want to go over their billing entries and ask them if they have any questions. You want to clear up any ambiguity. You want to get in front of any potential problems that may occur.
When issues arise, you wanna address them early through clear communication that shows your clients that you’re proactive and trustworthy. If a client has a question about a time entry or about a cost, you really want to take all of the time that they need in order for you to explain the work that was done and why it was necessary.
You want to do more listening than talking.
Transparent building fosters client trust. It reduces disputes and it highlights the value of the legal services provided. Consistently practice clear, detailed billing and formatting and address any billing concerns early on to build and maintain a strong, [00:07:00] trusting relationship with your clients. And as we like to say here in this firm, build relationships and all else will follow.
And I think you’ll find the same is true for you. I’m Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for dropping in and checking out this episode. If You like this podcast and you’d like to get more information about us, you can always go to our website at classroom2courtroom.
com. That’s classroom, the number two, courtroom. com, or you can send us a message to keep in touch with us, or you can even inquire about our seasonal associate programs that we have available for law school students. You can come and work with us. And as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe to stay on top of all of our newest episodes. Until next time, we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better place, one client at a time.
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