LEDES 1998B is a standard format for electronic legal billing that uses a very specific format guide. The LEDES Oversight Committee has prepared a complete list of Timekeeper classification codes (last revised August 2014).
Creating LEDES 1998B Formatted Bills
Enabling LEDES Billing in your MyCase Account
To enable LEDES Billing within your MyCase account you must first enable this feature within the firm's Client Invoice & Billing Settings (Settings > Client Billing & Invoice > LEDES Billing). Once this feature has been enabled, you will then be able to complete the remaining steps to set up your cases for LEDES Billing. Once you enable this feature globally for your firm, can now choose which of your cases have UTBMS codes associated with them by selecting the option for LEDES billing in your Case Details (Case Details > Edit > LEDES Billing). You can also enable a case for LEDES billing during the initial creation of the case. Once the case has been enabled for LEDES billing, that case will now have all UTBMS codes added to your Time Entries and Expenses for use when entering those items as well.
Enabling LEDES Billing in Client Billing & Invoice Settings:
Enabling LEDES Billing for a case:
Utilizing the LEDES 1998B Billing Feature
At the firm, you can continue to create time entries and expenses as you normally would for your cases, however, now you'll notice that the fields for Activity Code, Task Code, and Expense Code have been added respectfully.
Time Entry Modal
Expense Entry Modal
The generated LEDES formatted bill will include the appropriate UTBMS Task and Expense codes:
There are a few things that will be required to take place before LEDES Bills can be generated:
All Firm Users will need to set their Timekeeper Classification in Firm User Settings.
Each case will need to be assigned LEDES Client/Matter ID’s.
Each case will need to be assigned LEDES Law Firm ID/ Matter ID's.
For outstanding entries requiring LEDES formatting, the entries will need to be edited to include the correct UTBMS codes.
More details about these steps are listed below.
* Please Note: Setting the invoice start & end dates for and invoice are NOT required for a LEDES bill. However, a warning will appear letting you know that the LEDES bill is missing some required fields. Also, if there is a Balance forward on the invoice, the LEDES format will not be generated.
Downloading LEDES 1998B Formatted Bills
LEDES 1998B bills can be generated and downloaded by first creating the invoice as you normally would in MyCase, opening the invoice in your account, hovering over the ‘Download icon’ (downward facing arrow with a line beneath it), and clicking “Download LEDES 1998B”.
Once you have completed this process , the file will download to your computer for your further use.
Viewing and Editing Entries in MyCase:
When you select to enable LEDES Billing for your firm, additional columns will now be displayed with view the overview of your Time Entries & Expenses: UTBMS Activity Code, UTBMS Task Code, UTBMS Expense Code respectfully.
If you ever need to edit the UTBMS codes associated with any Time Entry or Expense you can return to the appropriate screen in your main billing tab or case file and edit the time entry there. Currently, you will not be able to edit these codes during the creation of the invoice.
Overview of LEDES Fields in MyCase
ID Number | Field Name | Description |
01 | INVOICE_DATE | Issue Date of the Invoice. |
02 | INVOICE_NUMBER | Invoice Number in MyCase. |
03 | CLIENT_ID | A unique number that is given to each Contact and is assigned by your firm in MyCase. This can be added or changed from the Edit Case screen, under the LEDES Client ID field. If your firm does not have a Client ID then you can always use the one assigned by MyCase in the URL bar. |
04 | LAW_FIRM_MATTER_ID | The law firm assigned Matter code. This can be added or changed from the Edit Case screen, under the LEDES Law Firm Matter ID field. |
05 | INVOICE_TOTAL | Invoice total after any Discounts, Additions, Interest, and/or Taxes applied. |
06 | BILLING_START_DATE | The starting date for the billing period. Each LEDES invoice will need to be given a date range in order to be exported. The date range can be given by selecting Filter by date range check box and selecting a Start Date when creating an invoice. |
07 | BILLING_END_DATE | The ending date for the billing period. Each LEDES invoice will need to be given a date range in order to be exported. The date range can be given by selecting Filter by date range check box and selecting an End Date when creating an invoice. |
08 | INVOICE_DESCRIPTION | This field will populate any data listed in the Notes section of the created invoice. |
09 | LINE_ITEM_NUMBER | Number of the line item on the invoice ordered from the oldest to newest item. |
10 | EXP/FEE/INV_ADJ_TYPE | This field will identify the type of line item for each item on the Bill. This will be populated with either Expense, Fee, IF (Adjustment on Fees) or IE (Adjustment on Expenses).
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11 | LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS | This will be the Quantity field within either a Time or Expense entry. |
12 | LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT | This field will be blank in a LEDES Bill unless the line item has a discount applied to it. A line item discount will create a negative amount in this field. |
13 | LINE_ITEM_TOTAL | Total amount of the line item. |
14 | LINE_ITEM_DATE | Date of the line item. This is taken from the date listed on the time entry or expense. |
15 | LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE | Task Code that had been selected for the Time Entry linked to the case file. |
16 | LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE | Expense Code that had been selected for the Expense Entry linked to the case file. |
17 | LINE_ITEM_ACTIVITY_CODE | Activity Code that had been selected for the Time Entry linked to the case file. |
18 | TIMEKEEPER_ID | This will populate the initials of the Timekeeper (Firm User). |
19 | LINE_ITEM_DESCRIPTION | This will be populated with the Time/Expense line item description that was listed in MyCase. If this is left blank an error will occur when attempting to export the LEDES BIll. |
20 | LAW_FIRM_ID | This is taken from 'LEDES Law Firm ID’ listed within the Case description of every case file. You can edit this by selecting the Edit button with Case details. |
21 | LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST | This will populate with the users hourly rate for a Time Entry or the quantity of an Expense. |
22 | TIMEKEEPER_NAME | Full name of the Timekeeper (Firm User) in MyCase. |
23 | TIMEKEEPER_CLASSIFICATION | This is populated from your Firm User Settings. You can add or change this by entering Settings > Firm Users > Select the User > LEDES Timekeeper ID. |
24 | CLIENT_MATTER_ID | The client specific Matter code. This is taken from the Client Reference Number field in the Case details. |
Timekeeper Classification
Before LEDES Billing can be completed each user must have their own Timekeeper Classification listed within their Firm User Details. To change this, enter Settings > Firm User > Click on a User's Name > Edit > Timekeeper Classification. The full list of classification codes can be found on ledes.org.
LEDES Client/Matter ID’s
A unique number that is given to each Contact and is assigned by your firm in MyCase. This can be added or changed from the Edit Case screen, under the LEDES Client ID field. If your firm does not have a Client ID then you can always use the one assigned by MyCase in the URL bar.
LEDES Law Firm/ Matter ID's
The Law Firm Matter ID and Law Firm ID's can also be entered in the same place where you would enter your Client ID's. The Law Firm ID can also be identified as your firms Tax ID number.