Contingency Fee and Flat Rate Matters

When you create a new matter or edit an existing matter, you can change the billing method for the matter in the Billing preference section of the matter form. By default, all matters are set to hourly, but you can also set the matter's billing method to flat fee or contingency fee. 

Create and manage contingency fee matters

If you are working on a contingency fee case for a client, you can set the matter to be billed accordingly. This means that you can track time and expense entries for this matter along with multiple awards or settlement amounts once the case has been completed. You can also edit and delete award or settlement amounts. Then, you can generate the award or settlement and other activities on a bill.

Step 1: Create contingency fee matter

1. Create a new matter or edit an existing matter and scroll down to Billing preference.
2. Under Billing method, choose Contingency fee.
3. Select the firm user who will earn the contingency fee.
4. Enter the percentage of the award or settlement that the firm user on the case will earn.
   • When adding a new award, you can change the percentage value. You can also add multiple awards with different fee recipients within the firm and different fee percentages. 
5. Click Save matter.

Step 2: Add activities

1. Go to the matter's Activities subtab and select New time entry or New expense.
2. Complete the details of the activity entry.
   • By default, time entries for contingency fee matters are marked as Non-billable and will therefore not appear on the bill invoice. You can still show these time entries on the bill by checking the box for Show this entry on the bill. Learn more about non-billable time entries here. You can also mark the time entries as billable and therefore charge your client by unchecking the Non-billable box. 
     
     Note: You can change the default behaviour in your settings to mark all time entries for contingency fee cases as billable. Once changed, all hourly time entries will automatically have a $0.00 rate that you can update manually. Learn more here.
   • By default, both hard and soft cost expenses are billable. If you do not want to charge your client for any expenses, check the box for Non-billable. If you are not charging your client but want to show the expenses on the bill, also check the box for Show this entry on the bill. Learn more about non-billable expenses here.
3. Save the activity entry.

Step 3: Add, edit, or delete award or settlement

Once a contingency fee matter has been won or is settled, you can record the award or settlement amount. You can also add multiple awards with different fee recipients from within the firm and different fee percentages, and you can edit or delete awards. After an award is added, it will appear in the Activities subtab of the matter. You can generate all the awards on a single bill or bill each award separately.

Step 4: Generate bill

For a contingency fee matter, you can generate a bill using either the quick bill feature or bulk billing. If you checked the box for Show this entry on the bill for any of your non-billable time or expense entries, you can only show these activity entries on the bill by using the bulk billing feature. Once the bill is generated, the amount of the award received on behalf of the client will appear on the bill. Learn more about generating bills here.

If you are receiving the amount of the award in trust for your client, you can record the amount as a trust deposit transaction. Once added, the client's trust account will show the new balance. Learn more about trust requests here.

Create and manage flat rate matters

If you are working on a flat fee case for a client, you can set the matter to be billed accordingly. When you create a flat rate matter, the flat rate added during matter creation will automatically appear as a billable time entry in the Activities subtab for the matter. You can then generate the bill or continue to add billable or non-billable time or expense entries for this matter. Additional flat rate time entries added to the matter will be billable.

Step 1: Create flat rate matter

1. Open the matter and scroll down to Billing preference.
2. Under Billing method, choose Flat rate.
3. Select the firm user who will earn the flat rate.
4. Choose either an existing activity category or enter a custom flat rate fee.
   • The flat rate time entry will automatically be added to the Activities subtab for the matter. You can still edit the time entry up until the activity is generated on a bill. 
5. Click Save matter.

Step 2: Create flat rate time entry categories

1. Go to Activities > Manage categories.
2. Click New category.
3. Under Category type, select Time entry category.
4. Name your activity category. You can use the name to easily identify the category in a list. The name will also show in a bill.
5. Under Billing method, select Flat rate. 
6. Optional: Under Rate, add a flat rate for this activity category. You can leave this field blank if you want to change the flat rate amount each time you use this category.
7. Optional: Under Permission groups, search for permission groups and users specific to your firm. Only these groups and people will have access to this activity category. If you do not enter any group or name, all firm members will be able to use the activity category.
8. Optional: Check the box for Visible to co-counsel if you want Clio for Co-Counsel users to be able to choose this category when entering their time entries. 
9. Click Save category.

Step 3: Add activities

1. Go to the matter's Activities subtab and select New time entry or New expense.
2. Complete the details of the activity entry.
   • By default, only flat rate time entries are billable. Hourly time entries are automatically marked as non-billable and therefore will not appear on a bill invoice. You can still show these time entries on the bill by checking the box for Show this entry on the bill. Learn more about non-billable time entries here. You can also mark them as billable and therefore charge your client by unchecking the Non-billable box. 
     
     Note: You can change the default behaviour in your settings to mark all time entries for flat rate cases as billable. Once changed, all hourly time entries will automatically have a $0.00 rate that you can update manually. Learn more here.
   • By default, both hard and soft cost expenses are billable. If you do not want to charge your client for any expenses, check the box for Non-billable. If you are not charging your client but want to show the expenses on the bill, also check the box for Show this entry on the bill. Learn more about non-billable expense entries here.
3. Save the activity entry.

Step 4: Generate bill

For a flat rate matter, you can generate a bill using either the quick bill feature or bulk billing. If you checked the box for Show this entry on the bill for any of your non-billable time or expense entries, you can only show these activity entries on the bill by using the bulk billing feature. Learn more about generating bills here.