Practice Essentials: Keeping Time, Getting Paid, and Trust Account Management
3.20.2026
Nothing puts a lawyer’s license at risk faster than sloppy billing practices or trust account mistakes. That stark warning kicked off a recent continuing legal education course sponsored by New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Law Practice Management.
Over 200 lawyers attended “Practice Essentials: Keeping Time, Getting Paid, and Trust Account Management” taught by Jordan Turk, a legal technology adviser and family law attorney in Texas.
“Be practical and organized in your billing. A client should not have to wait months to receive an invoice,” she said. “Choose a date near the beginning of the month and send your bills in a regular and predictable interval, as close to a payday as possible.”
Turk also advises that payment should be due upon receipt. Billing and payment can be a sensitive topic with clients. So, Turk handles all billing matters as part of the initial client consultation.
“Discuss all fee arrangements and lay out the billing process up front. Use credit cards and online payments to your advantage by adding a link to your payment portal to your email signature block. This way clients will know how to pay you,” she said.
Attorneys in New York are required to be a fiduciary of client funds. Comingling funds or not moving earned fees from escrow to an operations account can be the basis for a violation, Turk warns. Accounts should be reconciled with the bank escrow statement, the firm’s escrow balance and the individual client balance.
“Practice three-way reconciliation of your accounts to save you from a costly mistake which can impact your bar card. A check and balance system will protect both you and your client,” she said.
Accounting software specifically tailored to a legal practice such as Smokeball or LegalPay offer safeguards and several reporting and tracking functions. Turk warns there is no excuse for failing to safeguard funds and reconcile accounts, which extends to the supervision of staff.
Tracking Time
Tracking billable hours for yourself and your team can be a challenge, but, Turk argues that embedding the practice in the work culture will pay off.
“Studies have shown that if you are not tracking your time, you are losing up to 12 hours a month,” she said. “It adds up to a lot for you and your firm.”
Turk’s previous firm would shame employees for not putting in their hours and it led to her being tasked with submitting hours daily to a partner for review.
“I was mortified,” she recalled. “It did fix my issue with tracking my hours. Now I keep a spreadsheet tracker open on my desktop. In my current practice, we offer a $25 gift card to paralegals as incentive for filling out your timesheet by the deadline. The incentive is now a point of pride in the office.”
Lastly, Turk reminds attorneys not to pad their time entries. It will lead to more questions from clients and judges. Fairness and transparency are important in invoices and will give an added layer of defense should there be any dispute. The CLE is available to view on demand.
Free Member Benefit
New York State Bar Association members now receive free access to Smokeball Bill, legal-specific software that simplifies trust accounting and billing as a member benefit. It offers built-in tools for three-way reconciliation, invoicing, and matter-based time tracking. It is designed to help small law firms reduce manual tasks and save time.
