Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, LegalStack Review may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we have thoroughly evaluated.
Online payments at law firms are one of those things that seems complicated until you've done it, and then it seems obvious. If your firm still sends paper invoices and waits for checks, you're creating friction that slows down collections, frustrates clients, and adds hours of administrative overhead every month.
Setting this up takes an afternoon. Here's how to do it correctly — including the part that most guides skip, which is the trust account problem that can get attorneys in ethics trouble.
Why most law firms still use checks — and why that's a problem
The inertia is understandable. Checks don't have processing fees. There's no new account to set up. And many attorneys learned practice management in an era where checks were standard.
But the cost of checks is higher than the cost of processing fees, when you account for the full picture. Every check requires someone to open mail, record receipt, physically deposit it, and wait for clearance. A 30-day-past-due invoice on a $3,000 retainer request is a $3,000 cash flow problem for a month. Clients who have to find their checkbook, write a check, and mail it are less likely to pay promptly than clients who click a link on their phone.
The other issue is client experience. Clients increasingly benchmark service providers against their experience with other businesses. A firm that sends a PDF invoice and asks for a check feels outdated compared to one that sends a payment link with a professional branded portal. It's a small thing — but it's part of the overall impression your firm makes.
The trust account problem: why you can't just use Stripe
This is the part that catches attorneys off-guard. Standard payment processors — Stripe, PayPal, Square — deduct processing fees from the total amount deposited. If a client pays a $5,000 retainer via Stripe, Stripe deposits $4,855 and keeps $145 in fees.
That creates a problem with IOLTA rules. Client trust funds must be kept intact and separate from your operating funds. If Stripe deducts its fee from a trust deposit before the funds hit your account, you've effectively allowed your bank to dip into client funds before you've earned them. In most states, this violates trust accounting rules regardless of intent.
This is not a theoretical problem. Attorneys have faced discipline for inadvertent IOLTA violations caused by using consumer payment processors for retainer payments.
LawPay: what it costs and what it does
LawPay is the most widely adopted legal payment processor in the country. The basic plan starts at $20 per month, plus:
- 1.95% for ACH/eCheck payments (the cheapest option for large retainers)
- 2.95% + $0.20 per transaction for credit and debit cards
For a firm collecting $10,000 per month in a mix of ACH and card payments, total monthly cost runs around $200 to $250. Most firms find that faster collections more than offset this — clients who pay online typically pay within 48 hours of receiving a payment link versus 2 to 4 weeks for check-based billing.
Beyond trust compliance, LawPay integrates with Clio, MyCase, Practice Panther, and most other major practice management platforms. You can send payment requests directly from your case management software and have payments automatically applied to the correct matter without manual entry. Our full LawPay review covers features and pricing in depth.
Get Started with LawPay
IOLTA-compliant legal payment processing, accepted by 37 state bars. Integrates with Clio, MyCase, Practice Panther, and more.
How to set it up: the actual steps
Create your LawPay account
Sign up at LawPay.com. You'll need your bar number, firm information, and bank account details for both your operating account and IOLTA trust account. Approval typically takes one business day.
Connect your bank accounts
You'll set up two payment destinations: your operating account (for earned fees) and your IOLTA trust account (for retainers and client funds). LawPay routes payments to the right account based on how you configure each payment request.
Integrate with your practice management software
If you're using Clio, MyCase, or another major platform, connect LawPay through the integrations settings. This allows you to send invoices with embedded payment links and have payments automatically reconciled in your matter records.
Create your payment page
LawPay gives you a branded client-facing payment page where clients can make payments without logging in. Add this link to your email signature, invoices, and retainer letters. It takes about 10 minutes to set up.
Update your retainer agreement and engagement letter
Add language describing your online payment process and confirming that credit card payments are accepted. This sets client expectations and prevents confusion about payment methods at the start of the engagement.
For more on building an efficient billing system overall, see our guide to building a time-tracking system that actually gets you paid.
What clients actually experience
When you send an invoice with a LawPay payment link, the client receives an email with a link to a secure payment page. They enter their card or bank account information, confirm the amount, and they're done. No checkbooks. No stamps. No trips to the mailbox.
The page is mobile-friendly. Most clients complete payments in under two minutes. For retainer replenishments, you can enable automatic payments that refill the trust account when it drops below a threshold — another thing you never have to remember to do manually.