Most firms in survey say that law departments ask for UTBMS code billing but give no guidance based on codes

Previous posts here have mined some of the findings from a Legalbill survey of thousands of law firm lawyers. The survey asked about UTBMS codes used by the firms on their invoices. One question was “Over the last 18 months, based on your clients’ analysis of your invoices using information from the UTBMS, have you been instructed to change the way you manage their cases?”

Three-quarters of the respondents selected the choice that indicated the least intervention by the law departments. The clients remained mute regarding any conclusions they might have drawn from the laboriously prepared and coded bills. If nothing comes back, it’s easy to disparage the value of the codes and the effort felt to be wasted on compliance. Either law departments should effectively use coded invoices or end the requirement.