How to enable LEDES billing for your firm
LEDES is enabled in the LEDES Billing page of your firm settings.
More settings
Within the LEDES Billing page of your firm's Settings, there are also options that control how LEDES files are generated and what codes are available:
LEDES Law Firm Id: This value will be your firm's ID in the LAW_FIRM_ID column for all LEDES files created in LeanLaw.
LEDES Law Firm Tax Id: This value is required if you are using the LEDES 2000 format, but not used for LEDES 98b.
Default Invoice Description: When left blank, the INVOICE_DESCRIPTION column will be set depending on what state the invoice is in. Draft invoices are marked as "Draft", approved invoices are marked "Interim" and invoices submitted to QuickBooks are marked "Final".
If a value is provided in this field, the invoice description will be set to that value. For example, setting this field to "Interim" will mark all invoices as "Interim". This value can be changed for individual matters as well, in that matter's LEDES tab. (LEDES 98b format only.)
LEDES Code Sets: Your selection of code sets determine which codes are available for time entries and expenses. Standard activity and expense codes as well as litigation task codes are enabled by default.
How to enable LEDES billing for a client matter
Once enabled for the firm, individual clients can be enabled individually for LEDES. You can find this option under the matter and the LEDES tab:
There are two columns of settings, Client Settings and Matter Settings. As indicated by their names, changing anything in Client Settings will change the LEDES settings for all matters connected to that client. Changing anything in Matter Settings will affect only the matter you're viewing.
LEDES Format: Specifies whether the files generated for this clients are LEDES 98b format, LEDES 2000 XML, or another format.
Required Codes: If activity and/or task codes are marked as "required", it will not be possible for users to create time entries for this client without those values set. Same for expenses.
Default Invoice Description: The INVOICE_DESCRIPTION field is set automatically by LeanLaw, but can be overwritten here for either the client or for the matter
LEDES Client Matter Id: Typically provided by your client which will be included in the LEDES file in the CLIENT_MATTER_ID column
LEDES Law Firm Matter Id: The field LAW_FIRM_MATTER_ID will by default have the matter reference from LeanLaw, or the matter name if no reference exist. Alternatively you can provide an value here.
Assigning LEDES Codes on time entries and expenses
Once LEDES is enabled for a matter, all time entries you create for that matter will include activity and task code selections, as seen below.
Note that if you begin typing while a LEDES code's dropdown bar is open, you can search for task codes. Alternatively, you can select them from the list.
LEDES codes will also show up in expense creation, as seen below.
Generating a LEDES file
You can generate a LEDES file from a draft invoice or a finalized invoice.
To generate a LEDES file from a draft, click the draft to open it. When the draft is open in LeanLaw, there will be a LEDES button at the bottom. Simply click on the LEDES function as shown by the red arrow below. It will create a downloaded LEDES file (red square) that you can upload to your client.
Alternatively, you can generate a LEDES file from a finished invoice through the QuickBooks page in Billing. Just click the triple dot on the right side of the invoice and select LEDES.
When the invoice is sent to QuickBooks, we also attach the LEDES file to the invoice. This allows you to also e-mail the invoice to the client and the LEDES file will be attached:
