Billing & Rates

All things invoicing and payments.

How do rates work on Priori?

Priori clients are charged a composite rate (or "Priori Rate") for projects initiated on our platform. The composite rate is displayed on our platform at all times and is comprised of your standard hourly rate plus the Priori management fee payable by the client for their use of our platform and services.

The standard formula is:

Composite Rate = Your Legal Fees + Priori Management Fee

For example, if a client receives a proposal on our platform and a provider's profile has a listed rate of $240 per hour, that is the composite rate that the client would be charged if the company engaged the lawyer for the project, reflecting legal fees of $200 per hour plus payment to Priori of $40 per hour.

The same formula applies to flat, hourly, success, mixed-fee and all other rates on our platform except for expense reimbursements (on which Priori does not assess a management fee.)

The composite rate is only charged if a client chooses to engage a lawyer on our platform. There is no cost associated with a client submitting an RFP, receiving a proposal or scheduling screening calls with suggested providers.

Sending invoices

Invoices for clients introduced to you via the Priori platform must be sent to the client via Priori. Unless otherwise agreed on an engagement, the standard billing period is between the 1st and the 7th of each month for the preceding month’s work.

The following video shows how to send invoices on Priori:

Practical Tip: It's important to submit your invoices in a timely fashion each month, unless otherwise agreed with your client. Many clients have policies which reserve the right to reject or automatically discount invoices which are submitted late – in most cases, more than 30 days after the close of each month.

What if I typically build invoices through my practice management software?

Not a problem! All major legal billing and practice management platforms, including Priori, support a common file format called the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES). Platforms such as Clio, RocketMatter and many more allow legal professionals to build invoices as LEDES files.

To bill a Priori client while using your practice management software to log time, simply build the invoice as you normally would, using your agreed rate (exclusive of Priori's fee.) Then, export that invoice to LEDES 1998b format, and upload that LEDES file to the relevant matter in Priori. Our system will automatically add the Priori management fee to each line item, and you can then review and send the invoice to the client from our platform.

The following video shows how to upload a LEDES file on a Priori project:

Payment

Clients may pay invoices via credit card, linked bank account or wire/ACH and our platform handles routing your legal fees to you using our third-party payment processor, Stripe.

Invoices are payable per the client's standard payment terms. Stripe will automatically initiate payout to your linked bank account two business days after the client makes payment, and you can expect your fees to reach your bank account approximately two business days after that payout is initiated.

Priori does not guarantee payment of client fees. As in the usual course of business, all providers are expected and encouraged to do their own due diligence on prospective clients and, if you have any concerns regarding payment, you have the option of requesting payment of an up front or retainer invoice when sending a formal proposal to a client or opening a project.

Payments (less any processing fees) are otherwise automatically directed to your bank account promptly following payment by the client on the Priori platform.

Receiving funds

To receive payments for Priori projects, you can link a bank account to your Priori account here and (once linked) verify your identity for our payment processor here. That information must be provided before you can receive payments via our platform.

We've set up our platform so that providers can select which bank account to link to their Priori account. Many lawyers link their IOLTA accounts to our platform (for matters billed on retainer), while others prefer to link their operating account. You're welcome to link whichever account works best for you and your practice.

Important: Non-U.S. Providers. For providers operating outside the U.S., rates will be charged in USD and, should an engagement eventually move forward, the client will pay invoices sent via the Priori platform in USD to our escrow account here in the U.S.

Following payment, we use a trusted transfer partner to transfer your legal fee component to your local bank account. Transfers may be subject to fees imposed by our transfer partner or your bank, including FX fees, processing fees, or other charges depending on the specific network used to effect the transfer.

While we have selected our transfer partner for its efficiency and stability, we have no control over fees it may impose, or fees your bank may impose on the receiving end. We encourage you to account and hedge for all potential fees and any FX / exchange rate risk you may encounter when quoting your rate to clients.

Processing fees for credit card transactions

Our third-party payment processor (Stripe) charges processing fees to transfer client payments by credit card.

Stripe does not deduct any processing fees from amounts paid by clients via bank transfer or wire/ACH.

The processing fees are 2.9% + 30c per credit card transaction and are automatically deducted from the amount deposited in your account following payment by the client. The same percentage is deducted from the Priori management fee portion of the invoice paid to Priori.

Credit card payments. As an online platform Priori offers clients the option to pay invoices by credit card. We understand that processing fees reduce the amount ultimately deposited in providers' bank accounts following payment by a client, however providers should not attempt to prevent Priori clients from exercising the option to pay by credit card. Processing fees should instead be accounted for in the rates quoted to clients for projects on our platform.

Estimated processing fees. When an invoice is sent via our platform, the invoice will (until paid) display an estimated processing fee on your Priori account. The estimated processing fee is calculated based on the highest possible processing fee that can apply to a payment on Priori (2.9% + 30c for a credit card payment). We display that estimate so that providers are informed of the likely processing fee should a client proceed with payment by credit card instead of linked bank account or wire/ACH. When the client makes payment, our platform calculates the applicable processing fee and updates the invoice accordingly.

Retainers

For projects requiring a retainer, lawyers have the option of adding a Retainer line item to invoices sent to clients on the Priori platform.

To send a retainer invoice, when you add a new line item to an invoice, select 'Retainer' under 'Type' and enter the retainer amount.

Screenshot. Selecting Retainer line item type.

Retainer Payment

Once the retainer invoice has been sent to and paid by the client, the legal fee component of the retainer will be processed and deposited in the bank account you have linked to the Priori platform and the Priori management fee component is deposited in our connected account. For lawyers receiving retainers, lawyers can link the appropriate account for such funds.

Applying the Retainer

Once you are ready to submit an invoice on the project, you can add your line items, build the invoice and then select 'Use Retainer?' before sending the invoice to the client. Our system will then automatically apply the available retainer balance against the invoice. You can also elect to top up the retainer at this time.

Disbursements. Retainers on the Priori platform can only be applied against legal fees and not against disbursements. If you incur disbursements on behalf of a client they will need to be paid for by the client per our usual monthly billing process.

Screenshot. Applying a retainer to an invoice

Handling retainer balances

If the project is completed and there is a retainer balance remaining on our platform, you can let us know and we will refund any remaining Priori management fee component of the retainer to the client. You can separately refund the remaining legal fee component.

Refunds are sent directly to the client outside the platform because feedback from lawyers has been that it is easier to facilitate the refund outside the platform, particularly given that substantial time has typically passed between the retainer being paid and the refund.

What is the process for editing / deleting an invoice once sent?

If you would like to edit or delete a sent invoice, please email [email protected] with the invoice number and a brief description of the change that needs to be made. One of our team will contact you to process the change.

We ask lawyers to contact us to make edits or to delete invoices to ensure we can manage the process with the client's invoicing / AP teams.

What is the process for adjusting rates with existing clients?

If you would like to adjust your rate on a project, we ask that you request approval for the rate change from your client. Once that approval is obtained, you can add the new rate in the Settings section of the project on Priori. Go to Settings --> select the Rates tab --> Add the new rate. Once added, you can select the new rate when adding line items to the project.

The reason we ask lawyers to obtain approval before updating their rate is to avoid any issues with invoices being approved and paid. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions on approach.

As a reminder, the formula for calculating rates on our site is:

Composite Rate = Your Legal Fees + Priori Management Fee

You can always view the % management fee for your matter and calculating your new rate by logging into the dashboard.

Taxes

Priori lawyers are engaged by and work directly with Priori clients for the duration of their engagements, and legal fees paid by Priori clients are automatically directed to lawyers’ linked bank accounts by our third-party payment processor (Stripe) promptly following payment by clients. Priori does not have direct access to or directly hold any legal fees paid by Priori clients.

Please see the Tax Forms page for information about tax forms for our Marketplace.