Did we ever get that advice back?
A fee earner instructed counsel for an advice on a point two months ago. The instructions went by email with a bundle of documents. The fee was agreed with the clerk on the phone. Since then, the advice may have come back to the fee earner's inbox, or it may still be outstanding, and nobody else knows which.
Meanwhile a fee note from chambers arrives in the accounts inbox with chambers' reference and a surname. Accounts cannot find the matter, the fee earner is in a meeting, and the fee note goes into a pile.
Why counsel admin is scattered
Instructing counsel happens mostly by email and phone. The important facts (what was asked, by when, for what fee) live in the fee earner's sent items and memory. Your practice management system may record a task, but rarely the agreed fee or the deadline.
Chambers use their own systems and references. Their fee notes and chasers reach whoever's email address they have, often months after the work, when the matter may have moved to another fee earner or been billed.
| Piece of information | Where it usually ends up |
|---|---|
| Instructions and papers sent | Fee earner's sent items |
| Fee agreed with the clerk | A phone call, perhaps a file note |
| Deadline for the advice or pleading | Fee earner's memory or calendar |
| Fee note from chambers | Accounts inbox, chambers' reference only |
What the scatter costs
Advice that comes back late is sometimes noticed only when the fee earner needs it. Fee notes that cannot be matched go unpaid, and chambers' clerks chase, which is uncomfortable and affects the relationship. Worse, counsel's fees that arrive after the client has been billed may never be recovered from the client.
There is also the simple question a client asks: 'How much has counsel cost so far?' It should not take an afternoon to answer.
How we build counsel tracking
- Instruction record: when a fee earner instructs counsel, a short form (or a button in Outlook) creates a record on the matter: counsel, chambers, clerk contact, what was asked, the deadline and the agreed fee.
- Papers sent: the instruction email and the documents sent are saved to the matter and linked to the record.
- Deadline chasing: as the deadline approaches, the fee earner is reminded, and a polite chaser to the clerk can be sent from a template.
- Work received: when counsel's advice or draft arrives, it is filed to the matter and the record marked as received.
- Fee note matching: fee notes arriving at the accounts inbox are read, and chambers' reference, counsel's name and the client or case name are matched to the open instruction. Accounts see the agreed fee alongside the fee note.
- Into billing: matched fee notes are posted as disbursements on the matter, so they appear when the fee earner next bills.
What changes for fee earners and accounts
Every piece of counsel work has one record with the instruction, the deadline, the fee and the fee note. Fee earners see which advices are outstanding. Accounts can pay fee notes because they know which matter they belong to and what was agreed. Clients can be told what counsel has cost so far without anyone searching inboxes.
Clerks stop chasing unpaid fee notes that nobody could place.
Is this you?
- Instructions to counsel are only recorded in email.
- Agreed fees are not written down anywhere central.
- Fee notes arrive with references your accounts team cannot match.
- Counsel's fees sometimes arrive after the client has been billed.
- Nobody can easily list outstanding work with counsel.