About LawPay

Lawpay Review: Credit Card Processing for Lawyers

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Lawyerist Rating for LawPay

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Rating Breakdown

Our Rating: 4.7/5

Our rating is based on our subjective judgment. Use our resources—including our rating and community ratings and reviews—to find the best fit for your firm.

Community Rating: 5/5 (based on 1 rating)

The community rating is based on the average of the community reviews below.

Composite Rating: 4.8/5

The composite rating is a weighted average of our rating and the community ratings below.

4.8/5

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Overview
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What is LawPay?

LawPay is a credit card and eCheck processor built specifically for law firms. It brings full trust-account compliance to a huge list of integration partners. Whatever software attorneys currently use to send invoices and trust requests can probably be integrated with a few clicks. With very little effort, users can start accepting credit card payments from their clients.

Starting Cost: $19

Pros
  • Integrations
  • Payment Reminders
  • Recurring Payments
Cons
  • Not for Large Firms
  • Add-on Product
  • Not Accounting Software
Overview
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Lawpay Review: Credit Card Processing for Lawyers Features

Customer Experience & Support

/5

Price & Value

/5

Security

/5

Innovation & Future-Proofing

/5

Overview
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Demo

Lawpay Review: Credit Card Processing for Lawyers Demo

Overview
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Lawpay Review: Credit Card Processing for Lawyers Video

Compare with Other Credit Card Processing Products Download the Field Guide

Product Details

Website
https://www.lp.lawpay.com/request-a-demo/
Apps
  • Android
  • iOS
  • Web
Support
  • Email
  • Phone
Software Compatibility
  • Clio
  • Tabs3

Core Features

For Credit Card Processing, the following are essential features, and you should therefore expect to see a check in every box in this section.

Yes
No

Free Trial

User Management

User Management means the software allows your firm to differentiate between persons who have access to the information and adjust their levels of access based on their relevant users statuses.

Accept Payments

Accepting payments is the defining feature of credit card processing tools, of course. However, not all processors accept all payment types. See below for a more detailed breakdown.

Recurring Payments

Some providers will allow you to set up recurring payments for your clients that will be automatically debited based on selections your clients make.

Send Invoices

Some credit card payment processing tools include a basic invoicing feature in case you don't have separate accounting or billing software.

Payment Reminders

With payment reminders you can automate email notifications to your clients to remind them about upcoming or past-due payment dates.

Issue Refunds

When you have to give the money back.

Reporting

Generate report like payments received or upcoming payments.

Fraud Protection

Payment processors should monitor transactions for suspicious activity to help avoid fraudulent charges.

Split Origination Reporting

This means that the product allows your firm not only to track where a file came from but also to allocate a percentage of the origination to individual users.

Basic Bookkeeping

This means simple double-entry bookkeeping.

Trust Account Compliance

Some jurisdictions may require law firms that accept credit cards to comply with specific procedures. For example, pulling the transaction fee from your operating account or having your client pay it instead of subtracting it from the payment amount.

Trust Account Management

This means the product allows you to differentiate between client trust accounts and track them individually. It also means that the product helps you manage your three-way reconciliation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I use LawPay?

LawPay is a web-based law firm credit card processing application that can be accessed using any modern browser.

What is the price of LawPay?

As of this review, LawPay pricing starts out at $19 per month with a starting processing fee of 2.95% + $0.20 (Visa/MC), 3.75% + $0.20 (Amex). And 1% (eCheck; $10 max). In addition to credit card processing fees, the card networks may also charge various “pass-through” fees. As the name implies, LawPay makes no money on the “pass-through” fees and charges you whatever the card network charges LawPay. As of this review, LawPay lists five potential per-transaction and one monthly fee charges for Visa, three potential per-transaction and one monthly fee charges for Mastercard, and two per-transaction and no monthly fee charges for American Express.

Is LawPay secure?

LawPay transfers all information over a secure socket layer (SSL) connection, so your (and your client's) information is encrypted while in transit. Additionally, they store their data on Amazon Web Services servers with bank-level encryption.

Does LawPay integrate with my Law Practice Management Software?

Yes. LawPay can easily be integrated into your law office's procedures by allowing you to include a link to URL, where clients can pay, into any communication, invoice, or even text message. Additionally, LawPay directly integrates with the many of the most popular legal tech products on the market.
Recently, LawPay introduced comprehensive legal billing tools, which handle some practice management and timekeeping tasks that small to medium-sized firms may need. Those seeking full LPMS functionality within the AffiniPay family should look at MyCase.

Can LawPay handle my law firm's trust accounting?

Yes, as a payment processor focused on the legal market, LawPay understands the unique role of trust accounts in law practice. LawPay allows firms to separate their payment account from the account they deposit funds into. However, you may still need additional software or a third-party integration with LawPay to generate the trust account reports you need.

Is LawPay good for solos?

LawPay is relatively easy to set up. Although, in order to take advantage of all of its features, you'll want to allocate some time to incorporate it into your processes.
Some firms will find that the universal payment link is all they need, while others will opt for the case management and timekeeping functionality of LawPay’s comprehensive legal billing features.

Will LawPay connect to my online bank account?

Although not directly, the platform can connect with your online bank account through its many integrations, including QuickBooks.

Can my law firm manage users with LawPay?

Yes. With LawPay, your firm can easily manage who has access to sensitive firm and client information.

Will my law firm's accountant be able to use LawPay?

Yes. Since the platform syncs with the most popular business accounting software, your law firm accountant will likely be able to use it without any trouble.

Can my firm accept ePayments with LawPay?

Yes. And no. LawPay allows you to incorporate a custom payment page into your website easily. Which can work as a client portal for many firms. However, it is not as robust a platform as some will need.

Additional Details about LawPay

Quick Bill

LawPay offers a Quick Bill tool that emails clients to request payment via a link or QR code to a secure payment page. It allows attorneys to send and view payment requests to clients. They can then view which have been paid, viewed, or are outstanding.

Scheduled Payments

With Scheduled Payments, clients can set-up recurring payments with ease. Not only will clients know they are paying on time, but firms will also be able to plan based on those payments.

Integrated Signatures

LawPay allows users to collect signatures with each payment, if needed. Clients can follow the link in an email sent to them to sign via touch-screen or mouse. Authorization forms can be built directly into intake paperwork so clients can onboard with ease.

Website Payment Portals

Making websites work as more than just an advertising platform should be a goal of all law firms. With LawPay, users can easily integrate a payment gateway into their existing website. Even when clients can’t find the specific billing email, they can at easily find where to pay.

Security

All plans include fraud protection and exceed Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance standards. With this, sensitive information within the application is encrypted, including card details. Additionally, secure receipts include only the last four digits of each credit card number.

Who LawPay is for

Any law firm that wants to process credit card and eCheck payments from their clients while easily complying with trust-accounting rules can benefit from this software. It is most effective, however, when paired with LPMS applications or billing software. The vast integrations are really the highlight of this program.

Firms and practices who need to take payments on behalf of their clients may want to look elsewhere, though. In those cases, they may not find all the functionality they need. The benefit, here, comes from ease-of-use, not broadness of application. Additionally, an increasing number of LPMS products offer built-in credit card and eCheck services. Such integrated services may be less expensive and more convenient than a third-party solution like LawPay. However, the built-in services may lack advanced features that LawPay offers.

Not sure where to begin? Download our Field Guide

Take the guesswork out of researching, purchasing, and implementing the right legal tech products and services for your law firm. Our Field Guide answers your essential questions and breaks down the features most important to your business, so you can buy with confidence.

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LawPay Community Reviews

4.8

Based on 1 Rating

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  • Nicholas P. says:
    September 26, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    LawPay does it all

    (5)
    We’ve consistently been impressed with the service from LawPay over the past 5 years. They are relentlessly client-focused and make taking payments from your clients seamless and easy. We started with their desktop setup, swiping cards via USB cable. Then they launched a smartphone app so we could take payments on house calls or anywhere. When they integrated with Clio, it made perfect sense to stay with them, and was actually a factor for us adopting Clio. I have been interviewed several times to ask about new features they are developing. We have tried to use all the features included, such as payment plans, direct invoicing, and ACH/eCheck processing. They have made taking payments so easy that the processing fees are a good value. A particularly annoying part of having a merchant account was the Annual PCI Compliance test, but they have made that a breeze. And by focusing specifically on lawyers, they understand IOLTA compliance, and I have never had to worry about fees coming out of my IOLTA by mistake (which was a problem at previous processors we used). We love our credit card processor!

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