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How to Customize Your Settlement Statement

Set a firm-wide default template for the wording on your settlement statements, or override it for a single matter — plus the full list of supported placeholder keywords.

Two Ways to Customize

LeanLaw lets you customize the wording of your settlement statements two ways: set a firm-wide default template that applies to every new settlement statement, or override the wording for an individual matter while you’re preparing that matter’s settlement.

Part 1: Set Your Firm’s Default Template

  1. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top navigation
  2. Go to Invoice Email → Other Pages
  3. Find Settlement Statement in the table and click Edit
  4. In the Template content panel, edit either section:
    • Opening paragraph — the intro line addressed to the client
    • Disclosures & closing — the payout summary and signature disclosures
  5. Use the toggle next to each section to turn it on or off entirely
  6. To insert a placeholder that pulls in matter-specific data automatically, place your cursor in the text and click {} Insert Keyword, then choose one from the list (see Available Keywords below)
  7. Optionally add a Jurisdiction note at the bottom to include in the final PDF
    • Note: The Jurisdiction note is informational only — LeanLaw does not enforce state-bar disclosure requirements. Confirm your firm’s language meets your jurisdiction’s rules before relying on it.
  8. Click Save Template

This becomes the default wording used any time someone generates a settlement statement, unless they customize it for that specific matter (see below).

Part 2: Customize the Template for One Matter

You can also override the wording for a single matter without changing your firm-wide default. This happens inside that matter’s settlement workflow.

  1. Open the matter and go to its Settlement tab
  2. Work through the settlement steps: Enter Settlement, Confirm Expenses, Record Attorney Fee, Review Liens, and Map Payments
  3. On Step 6: Review & Customize Statement, edit the Opening paragraph and Disclosures & closing sections the same way as in Settings — enable/disable each section, edit the text, and use {} Insert Keyword to add placeholders
  4. Numbers in the statement (recovery amount, fees, expenses, liens, net to client) always come from the settlement calculator and refresh automatically — you only need to edit the surrounding narrative text
  5. Use Expand on the Live preview panel to see exactly how the statement will look as you edit
  6. When you’re done, choose one of:
    • Restore From Firm Template — discards matter-specific edits and reverts to your firm’s default wording
    • Save Draft — saves your changes without generating the final statement
    • Generate Settlement Statement — locks in the statement with your customized wording

Once a matter’s template has been edited, you’ll see a Customized for this matter badge at the top of Step 6, so you always know whether you’re looking at the firm default or a matter-specific version.

Available Keywords

These are the only placeholders currently supported. Insert them using the {} Insert Keyword picker so they’re always typed correctly — there is no separate first-name/last-name keyword; use {client_name} for the client’s full name.

Category Keyword Label Placeholder Fills In With
Parties Attorney full name {attorney_name} The responsible attorney’s full name
Parties Client full name {client_name} The client’s full name
Matter Matter display name {matter_name} The matter’s display name
Amounts Gross settlement recovery {gross_recovery} Total gross recovery amount
Amounts Contingent attorney fee {attorney_fee} Attorney fee amount
Amounts Case expenses total {total_expenses} Total expenses advanced
Amounts Total liens amount {total_liens} Total third-party liens
Amounts Final net to client {net_to_client} Client’s net recovery