A professional law firm website is one of the most effective tools to attract new clients. With virtually unlimited reach as thousands of clients search online for law firms nearby, your website is the best way to instantly showcase your expertise and make a powerful first impression that ends in a signed contract.

More website visitors become clients when six key features are built into your website’s framework. From maximizing your search engine visibility to demonstrating clear social proof with reviews and testimonials, law firm websites with the following elements can help you enhance your site’s performance, increase conversions, and build a stronger client pipeline for long-term firm growth.

👉 Looking for a low-stress website solution? Watch 5 Reasons Law Firms Need Tabs3 Websites now to uncover what makes a turnkey website a competitive advantage for firms of all sizes.

The Benefits of a Professional Legal Website

Too many law firms see their website as a static digital business card. In truth, your website should be a dynamic part of your marketing strategy that is able to consistently attract, capture, and convert clients.

A well-executed law firm website can deliver numerous benefits. With the right site features guiding leads and prospects through the client journey, your firm can expect:

• Enhanced visibility and reach to help ideal clients find your firm and take the next step.
• More consultation requests with clear calls to action (CTAs) driving form fills and calls.
• Free organic traffic and leads from higher positioning in local law firm search results.
• Stronger credibility and trust through professional design and social proof elements.
• Simple, effective marketing that automatically attracts and captures qualified leads.
• Higher conversion rates by optimizing the user experience with clear guidance.
• A powerful first impression that showcases your firm’s services and expertise from the first click.

When 96% of legal clients begin their lawyer search online and 74% of searches end with a phone call, a strong website designed to increase online visibility is a key driver of client acquisition. Simple, optimized features can elevate basic law firm websites to high-performance engines that generate steady growth.

👉 Top-performing legal websites feature specific elements that drive results. Download Essential Elements of a Successful Law Firm Website now to learn what your website needs to reach its full potential.

6 High-Converting Law Firm Website Features That Win Clients

Like any marketing tool, law firm websites should be optimized and improved over time to enhance their lead generation capabilities. Ensuring key features and high-impact site elements are in place can strengthen your digital marketing strategy and enable your firm to drive more consultations, conversions, and long-term growth.

1. Client-Centric Features That Attract and Capture Leads

If your website is filled with legal jargon and focuses more on your credentials than your clients’ needs, it won’t appeal to prospective clients. Your website content should address the real-world challenges and legal questions your clients face on a daily basis. Visitors need to know you understand their situation and have the expertise to guide them before they submit a form or call your firm.

Today’s clients expect more than just information. They want the ability to take action: pay invoices online, check the status of their case, and securely communicate with their attorney. Your firm can support these expectations with seamless integrations with billing and CRM tools for client convenience.

• Post client-focused content that addresses common pain points and legal questions.
• Show visitors you understand their challenges and how you solve their problems.
• Use clear, consistent messaging and pair it with relevant visuals to engage and build trust.
• Offer practical features like online payments, client communication tools, and case updates to turn visitors into clients.

Focus on the outcomes your clients care about, speak their language, and ensure your website delivers more than information to provide real value for clients.

2. Fast, Mobile-Friendly Experience

A website that takes too long to load or fails to display properly on mobile devices is off-putting and challenging for users. As your firm’s digital first impression, your website should be optimized for speed and feature adaptable, mobile-first design.

When over 60% of searches happen on mobile devices and 40% of users leave sites that take more than 3 seconds to load, the importance of a fast-loading website that instantly adapts to fit mobile screens can’t be overstated.

• Conduct website and page load speed tests to understand where improvements are needed.
• Compress images and choose fast hosting to reduce loading time and bounce rates.
• Ensure navigation menus, buttons, and content display properly on various screen sizes.

Take the user experience a step further by ensuring your site is accessible for all users, including those with disabilities. Prioritize a clean, easily navigable design and straightforward information access.

3. Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It’s incredibly difficult to rank in search results for broad, high-competition terms like “family lawyer,” and users searching for terms like those could be located anywhere in the United States. Instead, successful law firm websites use low-competition, location-based keywords to reach the clients searching for attorneys nearby.

Firms that prioritize local SEO are able to connect with high-intent prospective clients using search terms like “personal injury lawyer near me” or “Boca Raton divorce attorney.” Preparing your website with the right keywords and settings will enable you to reach these users early in their attorney search and generate more qualified leads in your area.

• Develop a strong local SEO strategy targeting your geographic area and relevant keywords.
• Identify the neighborhoods and regions you serve and local legal issues people search for.
• Claim and verify your Google Business Profile and other directories to enhance local visibility.
• Target local leads with Tabs3 Google Ads services to increase clicks, calls, and clients with proven ad strategies that position you at the top of local search results.

Potential clients often click the firm they see first in search results. Implementing a strong local search optimization strategy is a powerful way to increase site traffic from high-intent leads who are ready to convert.

4. Clear and Current Contact Information

Is it hard for leads to get in touch with your firm? If visitors can’t easily find your phone number, email, or office location, it’s harder for prospects to reach out. Easily accessible contact information is essential, yet many law firm websites bury details or complicate the process

5. Highlight Client Testimonials and Social Proof

Credibility markers and social proof help law firms win clients. Without testimonials, case results, or reviews displayed prominently on your website, potential clients have little reason to trust you over competitors. Studies show 80% of legal clients seek out online reviews and testimonials before hiring a lawyer. These elements build your reputation and differentiate your firm when leads visit your site.

• Showcase testimonials, reviews, awards, and case studies throughout your website to build trust and demonstrate results.
• Use specialized tools like Feedback Automatic to display positive reviews on your website and keep negative comments internal.
• Create dedicated landing pages for each practice area with relevant testimonials and results to show qualified leads how you can assist with their specific legal needs.

Ensure testimonials feel authentic and specific. Feedback that goes beyond generic praise is most effective. For example, “John helped me get my life back after my accident” resonates with similar clients. Highlight your firm’s success and team expertise with concrete examples to build trust and approachability.

6. Built-In Engagement Tools

High-converting legal websites do more than inform; they engage and prompt users to explore further or take the next step. Many firm websites function as static brochures rather than dynamic lead generation and client relationship tools. Implementing the right features can help you engage visitors consistently to drive more conversions.

• Follow up on form submissions quickly and create multiple touchpoints before clients decide.
• Create a sales funnel to guide visitors to book a free consultation. Consider offering free tools or guides to build trust and nurture leads with email drip campaigns.
• Measure your website and marketing ROI data to ensure strategies deliver increasing value.

As your firm grows, evolve engagement strategies to handle more leads and client needs. Use your website to start conversations, not just display credentials. Embrace content marketing with helpful resources that build expertise and value.

👉 Want to see how easy it is to launch a high-converting website that works as hard as you do? Schedule a demo to explore Tabs3 Websites now.

An Easier Path to a High-Performance Law Firm Website

The six features above are essential building blocks of a law firm website that attracts and converts new clients. Miss even one and you could risk losing leads, weakening your first impression. Solve your prospecting and client service needs with a site developed by specialists in the legal industry: Tabs3 Websites.

Sites from Tabs3 Websites are backed by years of legal marketing expertise and designed to help your firm look sharper, move faster, and grow smarter. Give clients what they expect from a modern firm: the ability to pay online, get in touch easily, and track their case status securely. From lead capture to payment processing, it’s all built in.

When you launch your new website, you get everything you need to succeed online:

• Professional, modern design
• 10 customizable webpages
• Built-in legal SEO content and FAQs
• Industry-leading security and compliance features
• Done-for-you design, support, and maintenance
• Seamless integration with Tabs3Pay and Tabs3 CRM
• Add-ons like client reviews and Google Ads services

Tabs3 Websites are fast, secure, and purpose-built for the legal industry. Ready to launch a website that reflects the professionalism of your practice? Schedule a demo today and discover your shortcut to a stronger online presence.

👉 Want to see how easy it is to launch a high-converting website that works as hard as you do? Schedule a demo to explore Tabs3 Websites now.

We know that invoicing keeps the lights on. For many small and midsize firms, however, the billing cycle eats up too much attorney time and stretches administrative teams too thin. Going paperless, with the right technology and workflows, can bring billing back into balance.

Tabs3 products are built for law firms like yours. When using Tabs3 Billing, Tabs3 Financials, Tabs3Pay and Tabs3 Cloud, you can reduce or eliminate paper while reducing workload for attorneys and professional staff.

👉 Paperless Invoicing: A How to Guide for Busy Law Firms

What is paperless billing?

Paperless billing means leveraging electronic recordkeeping and automation to reduce or eliminate paper-based work. Going paperless is good for the planet, your pocketbook, and your workload.

Paper-free processes can speed up time entry, eliminate duplicative work, reduce the chance of statement errors, and streamline collections. You can also reduce the paper needed for trust account compliance and general accounting tasks.

The following sections describe the five steps of a paperless billing cycle.

Step 1: Generate draft statements electronically

Attorneys in firms without modern billing software tend to get stuck doing time entry via hard-to-use programs, spreadsheets, or handwritten notes. Billing clerks translate the time entries to draft statements via manual data entry.

The process creates problems. Generating draft statements takes too long, which ripples out across the firm, because billing clerks are less available for other support tasks. It is easy to misread a time entry or introduce a typo. Fixing errors costs billing clerk time (if the error is caught early) or attorney time (if the client finds the error). Delays compound; they slow the whole firm down and add unnecessary friction to everyone’s work.

The solution is an integrated, paper-free timekeeping and billing solution like Tabs3 Billing:

• Attorneys enter their time digitally via an interface built for their unique needs.
• On the back end, the billing clerk efficiently extracts the time entries.
• The software automatically translates the time entries into a draft statement. You can set up multiple templates in advance so no manual data entry is needed, even if you create statements in many different formats.

Step 2: Manage pre-billing digitally

The traditional statement approval, or pre-billing, process wastes time and paper too. The billing clerk prints draft statements, and stacks of paper are circulated among approving attorneys. Corrections are typically made by hand, introducing interpretation errors when the billing clerk types them in. There is also no central tracking of where each prebill is in the approval process.

Electronic pre-billing solves those problems while eliminating paper. With Tabs3 Billing:

• The billing clerk hands off the draft statement to the attorney by changing the statement’s status in the software. The approval process is tracked automatically, so authorized users can instantly see its status.
• The reviewing attorney gets a notification and opens a digital preview of the statement. They can type corrections or comments directly into the software. Then they mark the statement as reviewed.
• The billing clerk goes into the digital draft statement, resolves any outstanding issues, and finalizes it according to your firm’s procedures.

Step 3: Send paperless statements

Paper statements introduce costs and delays: postage, envelopes, printing, paper, and a process that cannot be fully automated. Even if you are unable to fully eliminate paper statements, you will likely find that some clients prefer electronic statements. Paper statements introduce costs and delays on their end as well.

Tabs3 Billing offers optional email statements, reducing paper and wasted time:

• Email statements consist of a short email with an attached statement in PDF format.
• You can create multiple templates for statement emails ahead of time. You have the option to personalize templates by inserting fields with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
• The fields pull in personalized information, like client name, balance due, and electronic payment links, and automatically insert it in the email’s subject line or body.
• When you set up email statements for a client, you choose an appropriate template.
• The billing clerk can send the approved statement with a single click. The software chooses the selected template, inserts the personalized information into the correct fields, generates a PDF statement, attaches the PDF, and sends the email.

Step 4: Collect payments electronically

In some practice areas, paper checks are the norm. Even in B2B transactions, however, electronic payment use is growing. Most consumers strongly prefer to pay electronically. Getting paid by check generates its own costs: on average receiving a paper check costs $1.01-$2.00, and check fraud is common.

Tabs3Pay integrates with Tabs3 Billing for faster, paper-free collections:

• You can include a live payment link in email statements.
• Clients can pay by ACH, debit card, credit card, PayPal, Venmo, or PayPal Pay Later. They never have to hunt for the checkbook or a stamp.
• The secure, PCI-compliant payment processor is built for law firms, so trust account compliance is baked in. Transactions automatically go into the correct account.
• Payments may be processed more quickly than paper checks.
• You may be able to manage the firm’s costs with surcharging. (Check state and local rules first, as they vary.)

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

Step 5: Simplify compliance and recordkeeping

When your accounting processes are done on paper (or in a disconnected set of spreadsheets), it is easy to miss steps or get out of sync. Managing the recordkeeping burden of trust accounting without modern software increases the risk of errors, with the potential for serious business consequences. Paper-based three-way reconciliations are also time-consuming and error-prone.

Tabs3 Billing works with Tabs3 Financials to reduce paper and the risk of ethical breaches:

• Time entry, billing statements, accounts payable, and trust account management modules securely and automatically share the appropriate information.
• Your systems securely communicate with your financial institutions so you can keep a close eye on trust accounting.
• Three-way reconciliations are faster and more accurate with built-in reporting that automatically pulls in bank statements, your trust ledger, and each client’s individual trust ledger.
• By storing records electronically, you can reduce storage costs while making records more accessible to authorized users.

Cut out paper waste and wasted time with Tabs3

With Tabs3 Billing and Tabs3 Financials, available inTabs3 Cloud, you can create a virtually paper-free invoicing process. That works out to streamlined workflows, a faster revenue cycle, and happier clients. Schedule your free demo today.

👉 Paperless Invoicing: Why Your Law Firm Should Embrace the Digital Age

Even when your phone is ringing off the hook, the people calling might not be the leads you need. Finding the right match requires qualifying leads fast and following up promptly with qualified prospects. That can create a major administrative burden and cut into billable time.

Tabs3 CRM can help. By automating aspects of your client relationships, you can sign more of the right clients with less work.

👉 Learn more about the benefits of Tabs3 CRM

What is a CRM?

CRM stands for Client Relationship Management. A legal CRM can help your firm organize information, manage communication, and improve potential client relationships via centralized data storage and automation.

For example, a CRM might automate intake tasks like prescreening, consultation reminders, follow-ups, and engagement paperwork. CRMs can also boost intake collaboration within your office. They typically track all the contacts your office has with an individual, so anyone can see what has been done and which tasks remain.

Once a client has engaged your firm, a CRM that integrates with your practice management software can eliminate duplicative data entry.

CRMs help firms engage leads more efficiently

Managing relationships with leads begins the moment a potential client learns about your firm. The initial part of your intake workflow might look something like this:

Step 1: Be visible to potential clients

Many firms reach out to potential clients via multiple channels. For some, that means paid ads, like Google, Facebook, trade journals. For others, it might include bus benches and billboards. And no matter what your practice area is, a professional, engaging website is critical.

Tabs3 CRM can help you discover which channels are the most successful so you can iterate and improve your marketing. You can record lead sources or track them directly through an integration. For example, the software integrates with Tabs3 Websites, so website leads are automatically drawn into your intake workflow.

Step 2: Route inquiries appropriately

Whether you have dedicated intake staff or not, you need to get each lead to the right person at the right time. Tabs3 CRM can automatically route the leads to the right person, based on criteria you specify, or hold notifications when intake is unavailable. Routing inquiries correctly means fewer missed connections, so you can engage promising leads quickly.

Step 3: Pre-screen leads thoughtfully

A good pre-screening can save hours of wasted time. With Tabs3 CRM, you can create multiple digital intake forms for different types of cases or practice groups. Then you decide how to deploy them:

• Traditional phone screening, where you enter answers directly into the CRM. Screeners can initiate the call from Tabs3 CRM.
• Self-serve screening, where you send the lead a text or email with a link to the appropriate screening form. This allows you to make a preliminary representation decision before getting on the phone.

Nurture leads effectively

Leads that are qualified by pre-screening continue moving through the intake process. The latter part of an intake process typically includes these steps.

Step 1: Stay top of mind

Sometimes a qualified lead is not ready to move forward with their matter. But in a busy office, important follow-up tasks can fall through the cracks. With Tabs3 CRM automations, however, you can create set-it-and-forget-it follow-up sequences, like text reminders or a series of emails (a “drip campaign”).

Templates and an intuitive interface make it easy to create sequences with no prior experience. You can customize the words and timing to fit your firm’s style, so your messages feel natural and personalized, while freeing you up to concentrate on other matters.

The tool also includes dashboards and reports so you can see how people are responding to your messages.

Step 2: Simplify consultations

It takes time to prepare for a consultation, and missed appointments cut into work time for attorneys and professional staff alike. Reduce no-shows with Tabs3 CRM’s automated reminders, delivered by text or email. Reminders can include information about cancellation and no-show policies to encourage timely rescheduling.

Tabs3 CRM also offers a shared calendar and personalized task lists to help your office keep track of consultations and other intake events.

If you gathered documents prior to or during the consultation process, Tabs3 CRM can store them for you. Any authorized user in your firm can quickly access the documents when needed, and the materials can be transferred into Tabs3’s PracticeMaster if the lead engages your firm.

Step 3: Secure the engagement

If you want to represent the potential client, it is critical to get engagement letters and other representation paperwork out as soon as possible. Tabs3 CRM makes it simple to send forms and gather electronic signatures.

You can use the software to create customized engagement letters and fee agreements, using an interface that looks similar to Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat. Simply import your existing forms, and with a few tweaks, you can create a firm-specific library of options tailored to your practice areas and your firm’s policies.

When sending a letter to a potential client, you can select a form and initiate the e-signature process in seconds. The lead receives a secure link that allows them to read and sign the documents electronically, and the signed document is automatically returned to your office.

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

Shift seamlessly from prospect to client

If you choose to represent the client, you can move the new client’s information into PracticeMaster in just a few clicks. That means less repetitive data entry and more time for billable tasks. Your intake workflow transitions gracefully into your new client workflow.

From first contact to conversion, streamline your intake workflow with Tabs3 CRM

All law practices struggle to balance client work with administrative tasks. You can take charge of your intake workflow with Tabs3 CRM:

• Screen leads quickly with custom intelligent forms
• Integrate Tabs3 CRM with a Tabs3 Website
• Automate marketing with time-saving tools and templates
• Follow up with precision to convert more clients

Our expert trainers are ready to show you exactly how your practice can benefit. Sign up for your personalized demo today.

👉 Learn more about the benefits of Tabs3 CRM

Your practice is busy. Staffing is lean. Clients expect speed. How does an overworked law office keep all the plates spinning? The right legal practice management software could make all the difference. Finding your fit could mean less administrative work—and better results.

This guide covers four reasons criminal defense firms can benefit from legal practice management software.

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

What is law practice management software?

Legal practice management software helps you run your law firm. Unlike general-purpose business software, legal practice management software is designed just for law firms. For instance, it includes built-in tools to manage your trust accounts ethically and find potential conflicts before ethical issues arise.

Features vary among platforms, but legal practice management software usually offers some or all of the following:

• Time and billing (timers, time entries, invoicing, vendor payments)
• Financial management (bookkeeping and advanced financial tasks)
• Contact management for conflict checking and case management
• Case management (calendars, digital files, digital documents, workflow automations)
• Reporting and analytics to help you track your success

Some vendors combine features into a single product, while others create separate modules. Modular software allows you to choose the features you need based on your firm’s current needs and scale as you grow.

1. Stay compliant (and in the black)

Practice management software with robust financial features can reduce the time you spend managing the biggest keep-the-lights-on task: time and billing. The platform you choose should be simple and efficient, with strong guardrails around trust accounting and other compliance issues.

Criminal defense firms can get the following benefits.

Track your time effortlessly (even for flat-rate cases)

If your firm uses hourly rates, tracking time is crucial.

Even on flat fee matters, however, including time entries on account statements can help you manage your clients by showing the value of your work. And with accurate time data, you can check your flat rates against the actual time spent on cases and adjust future rates accordingly.

Look for time tracking products that fit your workstyle and caseload. For instance, you might appreciate a platform with a mobile app that allows you to track time when you are moving from depositions to court and back again. Apps allow you to write time entries on the go too, when your memory is freshest.

Some tools can flag common narrative mistakes as you write your entries, and have digital options for revising time entries during the billing statement approval process.

Get control of your cash flow

Staying on top of billing and collections can mean better collections rates. When generating statements is fast and easy, you are more likely to do it every month. Thus, good financial management software can help you collect more money in less time.

The best software for your practice is one that matches your firm’s unique needs. Consider your current statement approval workflow and how the software could speed up, automate, or otherwise improve that process, like:

• Accepting payments the way your clients want to pay (usually electronically).
• Reducing the number of steps it takes to generate, modify, and finalize invoices.
• Preventing unauthorized modification of time entries and invoices.
• Sending invoices by email or secure sharing link (if the client desires).
• Preventing trust/operating account mix-ups.
• Reporting on your collections rates so you can take action early.

If you use retainers or flat fees, look for software that can track retainer usage, make it simple for your clients to top up evergreen retainers, and send regular statements showing the work you have done on the client’s behalf.

Keep the bills paid and the books balanced

Your firm also has bills to pay, and financial software can save a great deal of time in accounts receivable. For example, you can automate recurring payments, pay electronically, see which invoices need to be paid, and manage 1099s.

If you handle bookkeeping in-house, a fully-featured financial management package can include general ledger as well trust accounting.

2. Build better relationships and avoid case conflicts

From intake to case resolution, managing client relationships (and finding conflicts early) is the name of the game.

Key wins for criminal defense practices include the following.

Find conflicts of interest faster

Even if you are a solo practitioner, your memory or a past client spreadsheet may not catch every potential conflict. Since any individual you come into contact with during a case could be a source of a conflict, the number of names you must record or remember is overwhelming.

Digital conflict checking can take the burden off you while increasing the accuracy of your conflict checks. A fully integrated practice management system can automatically search all your files, your emails, and your contact database. You can still do a memory-based cross-check, and you will make representation decisions with more confidence.

Put client information where the team can reach it

If your client and contact information is stored in multiple locations, a single synchronization error can become a headache. Centralized contact management allows everyone in the firm to see client contact details (as appropriate to their role) and ensures anyone who needs to contact a client has up-to-date information at their fingertips.

Speed up client communications

Sharing documents, getting signatures, and reminding clients about court dates and appointments can take up a lot of time. Many of those tasks can be automated with the right software.

For example, you may be able to:

• Send clients automatic text or email reminders about important events.
• Share documents quickly and securely without the risk of traditional email attachments.
• Gather legally binding eSignatures for engagement letters and other documents.

It is also important to retain client emails, both for your own case work and for future conflict checking efforts. Many contact management modules can integrate with your email.

Find your best-fit clients

Some contact management modules help you grow your firm by improving your marketing and intake processes. You might use the software to share intake data, automate potential client follow-up and reminders, and even collect pre-screening data to reduce the time spent doing intake for cases you cannot accept.

3. Get more organized and productive

If you are wasting hours every week managing paper files, disconnected calendars, and workflows full of repetitive manual tasks, practice management software can reduce your workload significantly. Many practice management systems include a case management module, which simplifies day-to-day client work.

Criminal defense firms often prioritize the following capabilities.

Never miss a deadline

When you are juggling filing deadlines, motion hearings, client conferences, and other court appearances, it can be difficult to keep the team in sync. Practice management platforms often include shared calendars to make coordination easier.

You can typically limit sharing to smaller groups. For instance, if a paralegal supports multiple attorneys, they can see both attorneys’ calendars, but neither attorney can see the other’s calendar. This keeps cluttered calendars cleaner and reduces mix-ups.

Eliminate repetitive manual tasks

In many criminal defense practices, everyone wears many hats. Any time you save on often-repeated tasks eases the workload. Reducing the need for double data entry is a common automation target.

That can take the form of data mapping, like a tool that moves potential client data from a CRM and into a case management module after the engagement letter is signed. Or it might mean digitizing the statement review process, so revisions are typed in instead of handwritten and then transcribed.

Instant access to the information you need

Centralizing and digitizing data storage keeps your team in sync and reduces the time spent looking for documents. Storing documents electronically minimizes the need for costly on-site document storage.

Digital access is even more powerful when you are away from the office. Software with a mobile app empowers you to review a file at home, look up a client’s address on the go, and search case documents while you are in court.

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

4. Keep your eyes on the big picture

When workloads are intense, it is tempting to focus only on the work in front of you. That said, strong reporting and analytics tools can help keep your firm healthy—now and in the future. Practice management platforms usually come with built-in reporting capacity for most modules, and some offer advanced business intelligence and analytics.

Criminal defense firms can use reporting and analytics in the following ways:

Stay on top of short-term goals

Virtually every practice management platform comes with bread-and-butter reports like aging WIP (for time tracking and billing) and lead tracking (for CRMs). Regularly reviewing and taking action on reports is essential for every firm.

It is important to evaluate whether a platform’s built-in reporting meets your needs. Many law firms find they need at least a few custom reports, so you may wish to consider the availability of custom reporting (and what technical knowledge is needed to create reports).

Position for a successful future

Many firms can benefit from monthly, quarterly, or annual reviews of the firm’s progress towards long-term goals. That might include:

• Checking utilization and progress towards billing targets for each timekeeper.
• Analyzing the time spent on flat fee cases to determine whether rates need adjustment.
• Evaluating the progress of marketing efforts and then iterating with new ideas.
• Tracking financials to see where your dollars are going.

By choosing a practice management system that includes reports like this, you can spend less time reinventing the wheel. In some cases, you can get dynamic dashboards that visually represent close to real-time data.

Build a more prosperous criminal defense practice with Tabs3

Tabs3’s suite of legal practice management products was designed with you in mind. The platform is modular, so you can choose the features you need now and scale up as your practice grows. For example, you can:

• Make time tracking, billing, and retainer management effortless with Tabs3 Billing.
• Accept electronic payments with Tabs3Pay.
• Work wherever you choose with Tabs3Cloud.
• Manage bookkeeping, trust accounting, and pay bills with Tabs3 Financials.
• Get your team in sync and centralize document/client data storage with Tabs3 PracticeMaster.
• Get more clients in less time with Tabs3 CRM.

Want to learn more? Our legal practice management software experts are ready to listen to your needs and show you how Tabs3 can help. Schedule your demo today.

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

In Billing 101: Introduction to Billing Methods (Part 1), we discussed the terminology and structure behind hourly, contingency, and flat rate billing. But now that you have the invoice total, how do you plan to bill for it?

👉 Note: While this guide is software-agnostic, Tabs3 Billing users can get how-to information about each of these methods in the Billing Methods Guide.

There are multiple ways to bill for any fee structure

The fee structures above are about what the client owes the firm. The fee agreement also lays out when the client must pay and/or receive statements.

Billing/statement cadences vary

One-time billing is the simplest billing scenario. The client owes one all-inclusive fee, plus costs, minus discounts. The bill might be sent at the outset, at the end of the matter, or at another time.

Recurring periodic billing/statements can be used for any fee structure, including:

• A strictly hourly matter where all fees and costs are billed monthly.
• A flat fee paid in more than two or more installments.
• An ongoing flat fee engagement where the flat fee renews every month.
• Monthly information-only statements for a contingency case.

Threshold billing is waiting to bill until fees or costs reach a target amount. Instead of billing every month, you only bill when there is enough work-in-progress or expenses to meet the threshold. Your firm might also send information-only statements during cycles where the threshold is not reached.

Some bills are paid from a retainer

Sometimes you will send a bill to the client and wait for payment. Often, however, you can bill against a retainer.

A retainer is a lump sum payment to a firm.

• A security retainer is an advance payment on the client’s fees. It does not belong to the firm until the firm earns it, so it is held in the trust account. The client may need to replenish the retainer as fees are earned, or pay a recurring retainer.
• Clients can also pay a general retainer to reserve capacity at the law firm. It is considered earned right away, so it does not go into the trust account. The client must pay for the actual services separately.

The details of each retainer are set out in the fee agreement. There are ethical rules that govern how law firms handle retainers, so it is important to understand the exact terms of each retainer.

In the billing function, you might interact with retainers in several ways:

• Billing monthly for services completed, but paying the bill from the retainer instead of waiting for the client to send payment. The firm transfers money from the trust account into the operating account, and sends the client an informational statement.
• Asking the client to replenish their retainer balance, either periodically or when a certain threshold is reached.
• Refunding unearned retainer money to the client.
• Billing for a general retainer.

Some bills might be split among multiple entities

In some matters, you may need to apportion a bill among several groups. This can come up in transactional cases that involve multiple business units of a single company, or when a lawyer represents multiple clients on the same matter.

The fee agreement will lay out the details of the split. Both fees and costs can be split, and the percentages vary from case to case. You might also need to display nonbillable transactions on multiple invoices, or allocate credits among multiple clients.

Task-based billing uses codes to enable financial tracking

If your firm serves insurance companies or large corporations, you may need to do additional setup when opening a file. Sometimes this function is handled by a specialized e-billing clerk. When you add fee entries for task-based billing clients, you must include certain codes that describe the work done. This allows the client to track the fees and costs at a granular level. The bill is also submitted electronically.

Discounts, write-downs, write-ups, and write-offs impact totals

Reductions or increases in the bill are the last piece of the puzzle. Firms use a variety of words for these concepts, but the concepts themselves are the same across almost every firm.

• A discount means a reduction of the entire bill, usually by a percentage. Discounts can be one-time or recurring.
• A write-down means reducing the amount of time billed for a task, or removing certain time entries completely. Partners typically do this during statement review/pre-billing. It can also happen during collections, in which case you may need to create a revised statement. You may also be asked to run reports about write-downs, because consistent underbilling can undermine cash flow and reduce partner compensation.
• A write-up means increasing the amount billed beyond what is included in the work-in-progress. This might come up in contingency cases, where the firm is entitled to a certain percentage of a settlement even though it exceeds the amount the firm would have billed on an hourly case.

A write-off means forgiving an unpaid bill (or part of it). Write-offs have tax consequences, so deciding to write off debt is a strategic decision.

Questions to answer when setting up a new case

The following questions can help you get prepared to set up a new case. Depending on your firm, you might get this information from the fee agreement, from someone in your department, from the attorney, or some combination of those. You may want to add other questions that reflect your firm’s unique file-opening process.

For all matters. Detailed questions are in the following sections.

• Will the bills go to a single entity, or will they be split?
• Does this matter require task-based billing?
• Will we apply any thresholds for billing in this matter? If so, what are they?

For matters with retainers.

• Is this a security retainer that will be applied to fees and costs as they accrue? (If not, verify that it is a general retainer and should be placed in the operational account.)
• Is the retainer a one-time payment, or will the client need to replenish it? If so, when should the client replenish it?
• Will the client pay a retainer every month (or at some other cadence)? If so, is there a threshold at which we need to collect fees in another way, like hourly billing?
• What happens to the retainer at the conclusion of the matter (i.e., balance refunded or retained as earned fee)?

For matters with split billing.

• How will fees and costs be split?
• How will credits and nonbillables be split?
• How will advance fees or retainers be split?
• For fees, do you want to split the amount due (hours x rate), or split the hours and then apply rates to calculate the amount due?

Tabs3 makes every fee structure and billing methodology easier

If your firm is not using Tabs3 Billing yet, we would love to show you how easy even complex billing can be. The platform offers virtually unlimited billing options, with smart shortcuts to save you time. You can even handle the statement approval process entirely within Tabs3 Billing with our pre-billing feature.

👉 Set up a personalized demonstration with our experienced trainers today.

You need to get final statements out, but the draft statements are piled on the partner’s desk, and the partner is in court. Are the statements approved? Are more revisions needed? And will you spend hours puzzling out handwritten comments? 

Getting the bills in the mail (or email) is hard on billing staff and partners alike, especially if you are doing it on paper. As recently as 2019, 71% of law firms were revising statements on paper. That, however, is changing. 

Electronic pre-billing in Tabs3 Billing is now more streamlined

As of Version 2025, draft statement review via electronic pre-billing is easier than ever. The improved process works like this:

• You generate a “pre-bill” statement instead of a draft statement or Detail WIP Report.
• Each pre-bill is electronically assigned to the authorized reviewer(s). The review is done inside Tabs3 Billing, so there is no need to print or email documents.
• The reviewer pulls up a digital preview of the statement in Tabs3 Billing. To revise a transaction, they simply click on it and type their changes. They can also add transactions to the pre-bill or leave comments for you.
• The reviewer can put the pre-bill on hold or mark it as “reviewed.”
• You can access a real-time list of reviewed pre-bills that are ready to be sent (pending any changes the reviewers requested via comments).
• You create the final statement as usual.

👉 See This Tabs3 Knowledge Base article offers a deep dive on how to do pre-billing inside Tabs3 Billing. You can learn about the 2025 updates in this publication.

4 ways pre-billing makes statement approval easier for you

1. Never wonder whose desk the draft statement is on

With electronic pre-billing, you can check the status of any statement without leaving your desk. No more trying to find draft statements on a partner’s desk or resending emails. If you are part of a billing team, supporting one another is easier, because all the information is kept in one place.

2. Block accidental revisions once review starts

Generating a draft statement or a Detail WIP Report does not create a statement record or protect the transactions included. As a result, it is possible to inadvertently make changes after the draft statements are generated, but before the final statement is created, thereby adding unauthorized entries to the bill.

When you use pre-billing, Tabs3 Billing creates a statement record and locks down the transactions included on the pre-bill. By default, only authorized reviewers (including appropriate billing staff) can change transactions or add new transactions. Any revisions must be done inside the pre-bill workflow.

The firm can also choose to allow additional users to add or modify transactions, or to make changes outside the pre-bill workflow.

3. Create an audit trail for statement changes

A digital record is created every time a user changes a transaction in a pre-bill. Any authorized user can view that record. When clients or attorneys have questions about final statements, it is simple to track how changes occurred — without digging through file cabinets or poring over handwritten comments.

4. Spend less time revising fee entries

With a paper-based process, all changes must be entered twice. The partner hand-writes changes, and then you type the same words again (after you decipher the partner’s handwriting). Allowing reviewers to type changes directly into Tabs3 Billing can save a great deal of time.

Timekeepers and managing partners get major benefits too

Changing processes can be challenging. Change is easier, however, when the value is clear. When your firm adopts pre-billing:

• Partners and other timekeepers can feel confident that their revisions will never be misinterpreted, because they enter changes directly. That can translate into less time spent fielding billing questions from clients and more time for billable work.
• Partners can quickly (and independently) check the status of each pre-bill and statements’ edit history, so any client concerns can be resolved quickly.
• Partners can instantly see the results of write-downs and other changes when reviewing pre-bills, empowering them to make more informed billing decisions.
• By analyzing how transactions are modified at the pre-bill stage, managing partners can gain insight into profitability issues, like excessive write-downs.

Let us show you how easy statement review could be

Our expert trainers can demonstrate the pre-billing process to help your team decide whether to advocate for changes in your firm’s billing process. We can also support your firm throughout the process of shifting to pre-billing. Contact us today to schedule a demo!

Your website is your firm’s digital front door. Potential clients are searching online, comparing their options, and making decisions faster than ever before. The only way to compete is with smarter law firm website design: a secure, modern, and easy-to-navigate site built to capture prospects instantly.

Integrate convenient tools designed to turn leads into clients, and your firm has a powerful conversion engine that never stops working.

Make Your Website a Strategic Advantage

Whether you’re a solo practitioner or managing a multi-partner practice, the competition is only a click away. If your website feels outdated, loads slowly, or is difficult to navigate on mobile devices, you may lose potential clients before you even have the opportunity to speak with them.

This is why law firm websites are no longer a secondary concern, but a strategic priority. A high-performing website supports growth in several ways:

• Consistently captures demand and converts clients
• Establishes credibility and trust with prospects
• Improves your visibility in search results
• Simplifies client intake and payments

Adding conversion-focused features makes your firm’s website a magnet that captures leads before they look elsewhere. With the right elements in place, an optimized website is more than a tool to stay competitive. It can be your most effective source of new business.

👉 See Tabs3 “Essential Elements of a Law Firm Website” guide

What Stops Law Firms from Creating High-Impact Websites?

Despite the incredible client-capturing potential of law firm websites, the American Bar Association found that roughly 10% of firms are still without one.

The same report found that 4% of firms have given up on their websites since 2022, likely not seeing results with a basic DIY site or struggling to justify the high cost of maintaining one that was custom-built.

Making your web presence truly work for your firm doesn’t require spending tens of thousands or managing the site design, content, and security elements yourself.

There is another option for fast, affordable site design: a specialized law firm website builder that understands the unique needs of this industry.

6 Competitive Features of the Best Websites for Law Firms

Discover the six key law firm website features you need for a high-performing site that actively attracts, nurtures, and converts prospects into paying clients.

1. Strategic Design That Reflects Your Brand

Effective law firm website design keeps both form and function in mind. If the competition looks better than your firm online, clients notice. Pages that look outdated, unprofessional, or generic can turn potential clients off.

Tabs3 Websites eliminate these challenges by allowing you to choose from a variety of professionally designed templates created just for the legal industry. Building yours starts with selecting a design that makes your practice look prestigious and reputable from the first click.

2. Intuitive Navigation

If visitors are forced to dig for the information they need on your site, many will try another firm. Ensure navigation is intuitive and user-friendly with clearly labeled menus, buttons, and links that minimize the number of clicks to accomplish a visitor’s goal.

Tabs3 Websites make it easy for prospective clients to take action by learning about your services, locating your contact details, or scheduling a consultation.

3. Compelling, Professional Content

Your website is an excellent opportunity to educate and engage potential clients with focused content. Our turnkey websites come with 10 pre-written pages of content and legal FAQ pages to help you quickly capture interest from leads and begin building trust.

We handle content development so you can launch faster, engage more prospects, and never worry about crafting messages that resonate.

4. Search Engine Optimization to Boost Visibility

The best law firm websites are optimized for search engine visibility to deliver a steady stream of organic traffic and valuable leads. Make sure your website includes relevant SEO keywords, optimized meta tags, and information that search engines look for when choosing which websites to display in search results.

Tabs3 law firm websites have SEO-friendly architecture and integrated tools that help you achieve higher rank for your ideal clients’ most-searched terms.

5. Reliable and Secure Hosting

Safeguarding against cyber threats and minimizing website downtime with secure, reliable hosting is critical. DIY websites may require you to choose your own hosting provider or lock into a long-term contract, and security features are often too limited to serve law firms who need to maintain compliance.

Tabs3 Websites for law firms are hosted on secure servers that include SSL encryption, firewall protection, and SOC 2 compliance features designed for the legal industry and complete peace of mind.

6. Convenient, Integrated Tools for You and Your Clients

Your clients want integrated tools that make your website more than a digital business card. Built-in payments, simple intake forms, and optional law firm website features like language translation ensure every prospective client can take action directly on your site.

Tabs3 Websites seamlessly integrate with Tabs3 CRM to simplify intake with forms that capture lead information, instantly uploading each new contact into your CRM for fast follow-ups.

Add the Tabs3Pay integration to give clients convenient payment options, including credit card, ACH, Venmo, PayPal, and Buy Now, Pay Later. Collecting is simple when clients can tap “Pay Invoice” to settle invoices in seconds.

Build Smarter and Launch Faster for Less

Learning how to build a law firm website that produces results could take years, but Tabs3 Websites are your firm’s shortcut to an optimized web presence for maximum growth potential.

DIY and fully custom-built websites can easily overextend your team or your budget. Your time is better spent helping clients, expanding your practice, and maintaining control over your firm’s future.

Keep focusing on the work that matters and make your site one less thing to worry about. Customized Tabs3 Websites are your firm’s ideal solution to start thriving online:

• Website templates tailored for legal services
• Professionally written content and FAQs
• SEO tools that help prospects find you online
• Integrations with Tabs3 CRM and Tabs3Pay
• Support from a team that understands the legal industry

Ready to Make Your Website Work Harder for Your Firm?

Get the tools to outperform your competitors online and increase your market share. Take the first step by downloading our free guide: Essential Elements of a Law Firm Website. Get valuable insights into the features today’s clients expect and actionable tips to help your firm stand out online.