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LEDES & LSS Billing Formats

Send invoices as the electronic files corporate and insurance clients ask for

Applies to: LawBillity

Many corporate legal departments and insurers won't take a PDF invoice. They want a LEDES or LSS file they can load into their e-billing system. LawBillity creates that file from a finalized invoice.

Before Your First LEDES Invoice

  • Ask the client which format and version they accept, and whether their system needs particular fields. Some systems reject files that are valid LEDES but leave out optional fields they expect.
  • Make sure every time entry has UTBMS task and activity codes. See Using UTBMS Task & Activity Codes.

Which Format?

  • LEDES 1998B: the most widely used. A plain text file that most e-billing systems accept. Use it unless the client asks for something else.
  • LEDES 2000: an XML format with more detail, required by some large corporate legal departments.
  • LSS: the Legal Services Standard, required by some insurers and large legal departments.

Creating the File

  1. Create and finalize the invoice as usual. See Finalizing and Sending an Invoice.
  2. Open the finalized invoice.
  3. Choose Export as LEDES from the invoice actions.
  4. Choose the version the client needs. LEDES 1998B is the default.
  5. Read any validation warnings and fix them.
  6. Download the file and submit it to the client or their e-billing system.

Common Problems

  • The export shows validation errors. The usual cause is time entries without UTBMS codes. Add codes before you finalize, because billed entries are locked. See Using UTBMS Task & Activity Codes.
  • The client’s system rejects the file. Check the version and any fields they require.
  • You don’t see the LEDES option. LEDES and LSS are part of LawBillity only.