Financially Legal

When you start a law firm, one of the first and most important financial steps you will take is opening a trust account. In most states, that means setting up what is called an IOLTA account. It is a term many lawyers hear early in their careers but do not always fully understand.

Launching software from inside a law firm is a dream for many attorneys, but few ever make it a reality. In a recent episode of Financially Legal, host Emery Wager spoke with James Betzel, founder of Prima.law, about how he turned the daily frustrations of running an immigration practice into a modern cloud-based case management platform.

Law firms know that optimizing the payment collection process is one of the most critical drivers of profitability, yet too often payments are treated as an afterthought. Clarra’s new accounting and analytics suite, now live on its litigation-focused practice management platform, tackles this head-on by embedding Confido Legal’s payment technology directly into its financial workflows.

Updated September 2025. 

Managing client funds through trust or IOLTA accounts is one of the most critical responsibilities for law firms. Especially for contingency-fee firms, ensuring that disbursements are made accurately, ethically, and securely is essential to maintaining compliance with Bar Association rules and avoiding serious penalties.

Few topics spark as much debate in the legal industry as partner compensation. How firms compensate their partners influences not only individual incentives but also firm culture, collaboration, and ultimately, profitability.

In this episode of Financially Legal, Emery Wager sits down with Hugh Simons, former BCG consultant, law firm CEO, and prolific writer on law firm economics, to unpack the mechanics, challenges, and future of partner pay.

We’re excited to announce our new integration with Prima.Law, the powerful, cloud-based case management platform built by lawyers for lawyers. Now, when you run your firm on Prima, you can accept compliant electronic payments directly inside your case management system—no more cash-handling headaches, no more juggling tools.

Rules of Professional Conduct, ethics rules, and general regulations don’t seem to be keeping pace with technology, and nowhere is this clearer than in how law firms handle client funds. In this episode of Financially Legal, Emery Wager and Jayne Reardon explore how firms can transition from paper checks to digital disbursements without crossing ethical lines (and while actually improving client service and firm efficiency).

Chargebacks are the credit card world’s version of a courtroom dispute, and for many law firms, they can be a frustrating and costly surprise. In this episode of Financially Legal, we break down the chargeback process, why it’s uniquely tricky for law firms, and what you can do to protect your revenue.

In May, we hosted our first-ever Confido Legal Live event — a new quarterly series designed to keep our community in the loop on what we’re building and why. This session focused on one central idea: law firms should have access to the same digital payments infrastructure used by the world’s top e-commerce brands.

What do you do when you owe money to the most powerful collection agency in the world? In this episode of Financially Legal, I sat down with Stephen Weisberg, a tax attorney who helps people navigate IRS tax debt. We discussed what happens when lawyers, particularly partners in law firms, get behind on their taxes, why it’s more common than you might think, and what options exist to fix the situation.

We're excited to announce our new partnership with SmartAdvocate, a leading case management (and now billing) system trusted by law firms across the country. Through this collaboration, Confido Legal will power the embedded payments functionality within SmartAdvocate's innovative new billing module.

Today's clients expect effortless transactions—just like the one-click ordering they enjoy from top e-commerce brands. With Confido Legal and SmartAdvocate, law firms can now deliver this same experience.

How much time do you spend tracking your hours? What if you could increase your profitability, reduce stress, and provide better client service—all without billing another minute? The hourly billing model isn’t the only way to run a successful law firm. In this episode of Financially Legal, host Emery Wager sits down with Brita Long to explore the mindset shift required to transition to flat fee legal services.

How much time are you wasting on repetitive tasks? What if you could significantly cut those hours, increasing your firm’s profitability? AI isn’t just a buzzword now—it’s a tool transforming the economics of running a law firm.

Getting paid shouldn’t be a headache. Yet, too many law firms spend valuable time following up on invoices, managing multiple payment tools, and dealing with delays. What if you could handle payments directly inside your case management system?

Law firms using SimpleLaw can now accept and manage digital payments without leaving their case management system. Through a new partnership, Confido Legal is powering integrated payments inside SimpleLaw, giving firms a faster, more efficient way to get paid.

With this integration, firms can:

• Accept credit/debit card and same-day bank transfers directly in SimpleLaw
• Improve cash flow by making it easier for clients to pay
• Reduce administrative work by managing payments and billing in one place

Built by attorneys, SimpleLaw was designed to simplify case management without unnecessary complexity. Now, with Confido Legal, firms can also offer clients a secure, streamlined payment experience—without juggling multiple tools.

To learn more, watch our conversation with Dorothy Radke from SimpleLaw on Financially Legal.

What’s this going to cost?

The eternal question that every client wants to know before signing your engagement agreement. Now, imagine being able to give a clear, confident answer even in the most complex cases. Providing this level of financial predictability isn’t just a dream; it’s achievable. 

In this Financially Legal episode, host Emery Wager sits down with Lem Garcia, founder of Lem Garcia Law, to explore how he grew his firm from humble beginnings to serving over 1,000 clients with a 20-person team. Lem shares his journey starting with Craigslist furniture and a modest office space to becoming a blueprint for aspiring law firm owners.

The Problem: Poor Cash Flow and Unpaid Work

We’re excited to announce that Confido Legal was featured in The Legal Wire! In her article, "Confido: Redefining Payments for Modern Law Firms," Nicola Taljaard, an associate in the antitrust department at Bowmans, highlights how Confido transforms payment processing and money movement for law firms. From streamlining billing and collections to enhancing compliance with trust account regulations, the article features Confido's integrations with tools like Clio, LeanLaw, and QuickBooks. Read the full article here.

In this Financially Legal episode, host Emery Wager talks with Matt Darner, founder of Collbox, to uncover practical strategies for law firms to master cash flow and collections. With years of experience helping businesses recover millions in outstanding invoices, Matt offers a unique perspective on the intersection of accounts receivable management and legal practice operations.

In this Financially Legal episode, host Emery Wager interviews Evan Meyerson, Managing Director of Burford Capital, to explore the rapidly evolving world of legal finance. Evan brings a unique blend of legal and venture capital experience, which gives him insight into how litigation funding can transform legal claims into strategic assets for law firms and clients alike.

Many law firms assume that transitioning to flat fees is just about crunching numbers—taking your hourly rate, figuring out an average case length, and adjusting your billing model. But that’s the wrong way to go about it.

In this Financially Legal episode, host Emery Wager sits down with John Grant, founder of Agile Attorney Consulting, and Elise Buie, founder and managing attorney of Elise Buie Family Law, to discuss how law firms can successfully design and implement flat fee legal services. Both John and Elise bring a wealth of experience and unique perspectives to the table—John from his background in technology and Lean principles, and Elise from her journey of founding a family law firm focused on flexibility, collaboration, and client-centered services.

Is your LCM software holding you back? If core tasks like billing and document management are causing headaches, it might be time for a change. 

In our latest Legal Case Management Jam Session, Confido Legal's Emery Wager interviewed Casita Simpson, the founder and CEO of Simpson & Associates, a company specializing in CRM design and paralegal support.

Choosing the right case management system can be a game-changer for your law firm. Thoroughly evaluate the capabilities and limitations of your current case management system before deciding to switch to a new one. 

In this Financially Legal episode, host Emery Wager interviewed Gary Allen, who recently retired from a multi-decade legal career. Gary’s extensive experience includes building a million-dollar practice in environmental and land use law at Givens Pursley and co-founding LeanLaw to help other firms operationalize the best practices he learned the hard way.

In our latest Legal Case Management Jam Session, Confido Legal's Emery Wager interviewed Casita Simpson, the founder and CEO of Simpson & Associates, a company specializing in CRM design and paralegal support.

Operating a law firm involves navigating various challenges, especially as the firm grows and takes on more clients and cases. One of the primary challenges faced by law firms is the potential breakdown in operational efficiency. This breakdown can manifest in several ways such as missed deadlines, overlooked emails, and disorganized workflows.

Many firms rush to hire more people when things get busy. The big question is: Is your firm ready to handle this growth?

Handling chargebacks can be a daunting task for any business, but for law firms, the challenge is often compounded by the unique nature of their services and client relationships. At Confido Legal, we have developed a tailored approach to help law firms manage (and win) chargebacks.

In our latest Legal Case Management Jam Session, Confido Legal's Emery Wager interviewed Casita Simpson, the founder and CEO of Simpson & Associates, a company specializing in CRM design and paralegal support.

In the previous session, Emery and Casita discussed the critical aspects of building and scaling standard operating procedures (SOPs) from the client's perspective. View that discussion here.

As firms grow and handle a diverse range of cases, the manual handling of tasks such as lead nurturing, client communication, and document management becomes time-consuming and inefficient. This presents an opportunity for firms to leverage no-code workflows to automate these processes, saving time and empowering teams to focus on more strategic tasks.

Originally published on law.com by Cassandre Coyer

In our latest Legal Case Management Jam Session, Confido Legal's Emery Wager interviewed Casita Simpson, the founder and CEO of Simpson & Associates, a company specializing in CRM design and paralegal support.

In a previous discussion, Emery and Casita shared how firms can establish and gain adoption of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). View that discussion here.

As a follow-up to that conversation, Casita and Emery discussed the critical aspects of building and scaling standard operating procedures (SOPs) from the client's perspective. Clients can tell when a firm has clear SOPs and when the firm is improvising. Each client interaction can be thoughtful and clear or confusing and ad-hoc. In this discussion, Casita and Emery discussed how you can map the client journey and implement SOPs that ensure client consistency and clarity.