Author: Jane A. Bennitt

LEDES API Effort

It was about six years ago when Nick Puschak, then the Standards Director for the LEDES Oversight Committee, suggested that the organization create an API. The Board agreed that something was needed to create a more efficient legal ebilling process for law firms and to help manage the volume of tasks that need to be completed in the monthly billing cycle.

The first version of the API, created with Nick leading the effort, was ratified and released to the public in 2020 and, shortly thereafter, the subcommittee began working on version 2 of the standard again under Nick’s leadership.

It should be noted that LEDES does not have paid employees. All of our standards efforts are led by volunteers who donate their time.  Our subcommittee efforts are often delayed due to competing priorities related to our volunteers’ day jobs.  Nick’s retirement in 2022 also presented an additional hurdle with completing the standard.

Fortunately the LOC identified another volunteer to assume the role of Subcommittee Chair, Sherry Askin. We reestablished the subcommittee, reviewed the work completed under Nick’s leadership, and then considered other functionality which needed to be included in this release. By late summer, 2023, the documentation was finalized and a Public Comment survey was established to collect feedback on the standard from the legal community. Once the Public Comment period ended, the final documents needed another look.

Still to do: in January we will submit the final documents to the LEDES Standards Director for review, then to the LEDES Board for ratification.

So what is in API v2 Functionality?

  • It changes the names of some common terms in legal ebilling (Client is now Business, Law Firm is now Vendor), in recognition that there are multiple types of entities that could be filling these roles.   
  • It is intended to facilitate system-to-system transmission of information between the vendor (f/k/a law firm) users and the business (f/k/a Client) systems they are required to use. 
  • While the API supports the transmission of the LEDES 98B, 98BI, XML Ebilling 2.0x, 2.1x and 2.2x formats.  LEDES 2000, officially dropped from support by the LEDES organization in 2022, is not supported.
  • The API also establishes a JSON ebilling format that includes each of the data elements found in LEDES 98BI and XML 2.2x but is structured differently than either of these formats.
    • It is intended that the JSON invoice will be machine generated and not manually edited.
    • It is intended that the JASON invoice will only be utilized by the API and not by vendors submitting invoices via other means.  
  • The API supports the following objects and functions:*
Object Function
Business Send Business information
Business Get Businesses
Business Get Business Information
Vendor Send Vendor information
Vendor Get Vendors
Vendor Get Vendor Information
Location Send Location
Location Get Location information
Matter Send Business Matter Info
Matter Get Matters
Matter Get Matter Information
Timekeeper Send Timekeeper Info
Timekeeper Get Timekeeper Info
Timekeeper Send Timekeeper Rates
Timekeeper Get Timekeeper Rates
Timekeeper Send Proposed Timekeeper Rate Status
Timekeeper Get Proposed Timekeeper Rate Status
Invoice Automation Send Invoice (LEDES JSON)
Invoice Automation Get Invoices (LEDES JSON)
Invoice Automation Get Invoice (LEDES JSON)
Invoice Automation Resubmit invoice
Invoice Automation Appeal Invoice
Invoice Automation Adjust Invoice
Invoice Automation Send Invoice Attachment
Invoice Automation Get Invoice Attachments
Invoice Automation Get Attachment with information
Invoice Automation Send the status of an invoice
Invoice Automation Get the status of an invoice
Invoice Automation Get invoice status changes
Invoice Automation Invoice Payment
Invoice Automation Invoice Payment
Invoice Automation Delete Invoice
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file Accrual
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file Shadow
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file Resubmit
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file Appeal
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice LEDES file Replace
Invoice LEDES File Send Invoice Attachment
Invoice LEDES File Get Invoice Attachment
Invoice LEDES File Send the Status of an Invoice (LEDES file based)
Invoice LEDES File Get the Status of an Invoice (LEDES file based)
Invoice LEDES File Get Invoice Status Changes
Invoice LEDES File Invoice Payment
Invoice LEDES File Invoice Payment
Invoice LEDES File Delete Invoice

*Information from LEDES.org

We are very excited about the potential of the API and the impact it can have on law firm efficiency.   However, it needs to be developed and released before any impact will be felt.

The only way this happens is for vendors to embrace the API and make it part of their system functionality.  Here’s what I have seen:  the law firm system vendors (back-office financial and time and billing systems that already create LEDES invoice files) are eager to provide the API to their users.  The reception by the third-party ebilling vendors has been much more lukewarm, with an undertone of “what’s in it for us?”  So if you feel this functionality is important, particularly if you are a Business/Client that requires legal ebilling, please reach out to your ebilling vendor to discuss their plans to add the API.  

Look for more information on the API on www.LEDES.org.

New Ebilling Admin Tool Available

I saw in my feed today that there is a new ebilling administration product available called BillSync by ScanLogic. They call it “the first ebilling platform to be launched in 20 years based on new technologies.” The platform is “designed to aggregate all ebilling data across multiple platforms and vendors” and their press release goes on to refer to it as “a solution to aggregating all billing data where others cannot.” I have not yet seen the product and am curious whether their technology really does access the dozens of ebilling platforms in the legal industry that law firms are required to use. If it truly lives up to this promise, then this is indeed a powerful solution.
Readers should investigate for themselves here

XML Ebilling Format Updates

Earlier this year, the LEDES Oversight Committee proposed revisions to the LEDES XML 2.0x, 2.1x and 2.2 ebilling standards. The public comment period for these changes closed on July 25, 2022 and there were no objections to the proposed changes.

While preparing the final paperwork to ratify these changes, additional discussion occurred on deficiencies that need correction in the XML formats. The documents presented here reflect these additional requested changes.

A new public comment period has opened and will close on December 9, 2022.

Significant to these changes are a number of requests by global ebillers to address insufficiencies in the current formats and processes. In particular, a change has been proposed that will require vendors to change the data element used for rate validation and require updating client electronic validation routines. While we have tried to minimize the number of changes required, this fundamentally changes how rate checking operates and represents a big effort on the part of vendors to enact.

Additionally, The LEDES Oversight Committee has scheduled 3 webinars on the proposed changes for which registration is required:

To attend the law firm-oriented webinar, scheduled on Wednesday, 7 December 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, register here.
To attend the law department-oriented webinar, scheduled on Wednesday, 7 December 2022 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, register here.
To attend the vendor-oriented webinar, scheduled 7 December 2022 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, register here.

To review the proposed changes or provide your opinion on the changes, click here.  

See you at ILTA’s Educational Conference

It is with great joy that we announce a return to the ILTA Educational Conference, 22 – 25 August, 2022. ILTA was the first supporter of the LEDES Oversight Committee and finally, as the pandemic moves into endemic phase, we will be back this year in August.

Conference participants can find the LOC in booth #534, with GLE founder and LOC President, Jane Bennitt, and Nadia Strobbia, LOC Secretary and Thomson Reuters powerhouse, on-site.

In addition, we will have a hospitality room on Tuesday, 23 August where we will be hosting:
– 11:30 – 12:300 – the LEDES Oversight Committee mid-year members’ meeting
– 1:30 – 2:30 – Open forum discussion on Ebilling Issues and Best Practices. This session is a continuation of a discussion started by our London Regional Group, and the discussion will lead to a Best Practices White Paper on LEDES.org for Law Departments and Insurance organizations looking to implement legal ebilling.

Both events will also be held via webinar for participation by LOC global members not at the conference.

In addition to the above, GLE Founder Jane A. Bennitt will participate in session #1714: Leveraging Technology to Manage Outside Counsel Guidelines, to be held on Wednesday, 24 August 2022 from 2:30 – 3:30. Co-participants include Scott Springer from HBR Consulting and Mark Agin from Shearman & Sterling.

LEDES API Vendor Survey Available

In October I wrote about the LEDES API initiative, for which version 2 is expected to be released in the next couple of months. To encourage development of the API, the LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC) will create an API testing platform and make this available to vendors in the legal space. A survey has been posted to establish a timeline for making the test platform available. Please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LEDES_API_Survey to access the survey.

Below is background on the testing platform and project.

_________________________________

The purpose of the LEDES API is to facilitate system to system communication directly from the law firm to the third-party ebilling vendor. The API will facilitate the transmission of data files from the law firm to the ebilling vendor and accept notifications from the ebilling vendor back to the law firm.

 Why an API? Legal ebilling is extremely time-intensive to support at the law firm. The API will ease the burden at the law firm by automating transmission and notification processes where possible. A unified LEDES API will allow vendors to implemented solutions more quickly than if a custom API is required for each of the dozens of ebilling solutions in the marketplace. 

It is expected that several versions of the LEDES API will be released by the LEDES Oversight Committee over time, with each new version increasing the functionality supported by the API. V2 of the API is expected to be released in 2022. 

To facilitate the creation of these API connections, the LEDES Oversight Committee will create a testing platform for vendors to test their API functionality.  

Use-cases have been defined by the LEDES Oversight Committee to ensure the full breadth of functionality of the LEDES data exchange formats is supported by both types of systems. The LEDES Oversight Committee will provide written documentation to setup the test environment, including test clients, test law firms with timekeepers and rates, and test matters. Using this information, file transmissions supporting the use-cases will be tested, and based on the performance of the systems, the LEDES Oversight Committee will be able to score the quality of the API supported by the system, enforcing compliance with the full feature set supported by the LEDES formats. 

The LEDES Oversight Committee has selected LogicShark to build and support the test environment. LogicShark helps organizations design and implement digital transformation strategy to facilitate organizational change by using their low-code, application development software, the LogicShark CNECT Platform. Of importance to the LEDES Oversight Committee, LogicShark does not offer law firm or law department systems that utilize LEDES standards and is fully independent in this regard.

Understanding that vendors need to place the API on their development roadmap and secure funding and resources for its development, once the test environment goes live, it will be supported by the LEDES Oversight Committee for a minimum of five years. 

 It is important for the law firm back-office systems to consider how information can be incorporated into their data set. For example, it will be possible to

  • Note the date an ebill was submitted
  • Provide the current status of an ebill submission.
  • Note the amount approved for payment by the client
  • Calculate, based on the date a payment request is sent to Accounts Payable plus the days-to-pay specified by the client, an estimated date on which payment is expected
  • Note the actual date paid, plus the check number, transaction ID or other information associated with the payment provided by the ebilling vendor

 Definitions

System to system. We do not anticipate “home-grown” connections from the law firm to the ebilling vendors. Our intention is that the law firms’ back-office software (financial, time and billing, timekeeping, etc.) which generates LEDES invoice files would be the source of the law firm API. 

It may be the case that middleware could be developed as a transmission point from the law firm to the ebilling vendor, enabling support for smaller global firms that do not have the benefit of western-style back-office systems. We find it unlikely, however, that larger firms that have western-style back-office software would use this type of connection.

Notifications. The type of notifications from the ebilling vendor envisioned are those currently sent via email or via posted in the ebilling system. These include, but are not limited to, invoice submission results, rejection information, payment confirmation information, accrual requests, timekeeper/rate approvals, etc.

Increasing Functionality. v1 of the API supports the transmission of LEDES invoice files and the return of notifications on these submissions, and the ability for law firms to request the status of invoices. v1 assumed that when a legal service provider application communicates with an e-billing system it would require separate credentials for each client with which it would want to exchange information.

In v2, we are adding the ability to only require one set of credentials when communicating with an e-billing system and support a call to identify the clients for whom the legal service provider is exchanging information, facilitating more easily the submission of invoices to a specific client. The request to get the status of a set of invoices has been changed to use a “Modified Since” date/time instead of requiring the third-party ebilling vendor to support an “InvoiceStatusMarker.”   

The API subcommittee has also done some preliminary work to establish a JSON LEDES file format based on XML 2.2 and calls to exchange matters, timekeepers and rates, however these specific processes may be put off to a v3 release.

(This post was also shared on LinkedIn.)

Industry Acquisitions

While I have been busy with client work over the past few months, the legal ebilling industry has gone acquisition mad. Below are some highlights.

  • On 1 September, 2021, Bodhala was acquired by Onit
  • On 22 September, 2021, Alyne, a GRC company, was acquired by Mitratech
  • On 28 September, 2021, BusyLamp was acquired by Onit
  • On 3 November, 2021, Brightflag acquired Joinder, a corporate record keeping system
  • On 1 December, 2021, Integrum, a health, safety and environment platform was acquired by Mitratech
  • On 16 December, 2021, Continuity, a GRC provider, was acquired by Mitratech
  • On 17 December, 2021, Bottomline Technologies, a business payment conglomerate and owner of Legal-X, was acquired by Thoma Bravo
  • On 11 January, 2022, SecureDocs was acquired by Onit
  • On 19 January, 2022, Quovant was acquired by Mitratech