Best Law Firm Payment Processing Solutions

What is the best law firm payment processing platform?

Getting paid is an important, though often under-emphasized, aspect of running a law firm. After all of the intake, research, contract work, litigation, and invoicing, it’s easy to forget that last step, which is why law firm payment processing is such an important component to the business of a law practice.

A law firm’s realization rate, the measure of what percentage of law firms’ invoiced time is paid, should be one of the key business metrics that law firm leadership reviews regularly. And one of the best ways to increase your firm’s realization rate is to remove any friction in the process by which your clients pay you.

That’s why we recommend that every law firm use a payment processing solution. A service that can facilitate clients paying their bills. For this, we recommend a solution that:

• Allows clients to pay by credit card or ACH (electronic check)
• Allows your firm to take payments right from your website
• Handles your trust accounting/IOLTA requirements (if your firm manages trust accounts)
• Can manage automatic/regular payments
• Can facilitate custom payment plans
• Charges reasonable and transparent processing fees

Broadly speaking, law firm payment processing solutions come in two groups: General solutions, which could be used by any industry or business, and legal-centric solutions, which are tailored to the unique needs of law firms. As a rule, we generally recommend the latter (namely for handling trust accounting rules), but if your firm doesn’t and will never manage a trust account, a general solution may also work.

Clio Payments

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Clio Payments makes it easy for clients to pay online using credit card, debit, or eCheck. Built directly into Clio Manage, payments are recorded automatically and synced with accounting systems. Clio supports trust payments, evergreen retainers, and IOLTA compliance.

LexCharge

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The LexCharge law firm payment processing system bridges the gap between payment processing and the leading legal software. LexCharge is payment processing exclusively for lawyers and law firms, and includes built-in capabilities for managing trust payments, accounts, and disbursements. LexCharge was founded by the CEO of the popular Rocket Matter practice management application, and as a result, it integrates with Rocket Matter and other legal practice management applications.

HeadNote

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HeadNote provides credit card and ACH payment processing along with AR automation tools. It integrates with Clio, Rocket Matter, CosmoLex, and QuickBooks.

LawPay

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LawPay is one of the most widely used legal payment processors. It is approved by most U.S. state bars and integrates with popular practice management software.

Authorize.Net

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Authorize.Net is a general-purpose payment processor owned by Visa. It does not handle trust accounting but offers strong security and fraud prevention.

Stripe

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Stripe is a flexible online payment processor popular with internet-based businesses. It does not support IOLTA trust accounting.

PayPal

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PayPal offers easy online payment acceptance and is widely recognized by consumers. It is suitable for firms that do not require trust accounting.

Closing the Loop

Law firm payment processing is essential for modern practices. We recommend evaluating each option based on your firm’s needs and selecting the platform that best supports your billing, compliance, and client experience requirements.