Many law firms try to get invoices out to clients as soon as possible since they believe that the sooner a client gets an invoice, the sooner the client will remit payment. Indeed, many law firms have deadlines for attorneys to submit time entries so that administrators can prepare bills and send them to clients as soon as possible. However, there are a few situations in which it might not make sense to invoice a client immediately, and lawyers might be better served waiting to send a bill to a client.
Small Invoices
If a client has a small balance with a lawyer, it might not make sense to send a bill immediately. Indeed, if a client gets a small bill from a lawyer, they might think that the lawyer is impersonal since the small balance can just be rolled over into a bigger balance before an invoice is sent to a client. Of course, if the lawyer is done working for a client, it might make sense to just send a final invoice even if the balance is low. However, if an invoice is in the low three-figure range, and I am dealing with a consistent client of my law firm, I might wait to send an invoice to a client.
The administrative process of dealing with invoices can be difficult to clients, especially old-school ones who still use paper accounting methods and paper checks. Lawyering is all about relationship-building, and clients might be peeved if lawyers send them a small invoice rather than waiting until a bigger balance accumulates.
Holidays
Lawyers usually send invoices out on the first day of the month. However, sometimes the first day of the month or the first business day of the month lands on a day that clients might not be working. January 2, 2026, the first business day of 2026, fell on a Friday. As a result, many people took that day off so that they could enjoy a four-day weekend. Accordingly, even though lawyers might have wanted to get a jump on billing, they were probably best-served waiting until January 5, 2026, to send invoices. If lawyers sent invoices on January 2, 2026, clients might feel as if their free time was being violated and that counsel did not care about the holiday period.
End Of Matter
In some instances, it might make sense to wait until a matter has concluded before sending an invoice to a client. Lawyers need to beware of this strategy, since I have written before about how clients are more likely to stiff lawyers on the final invoice than on other invoices. However, if lawyers have a good relationship with a client, and know that they pay reliably, it might make sense for a lawyer to wait until the end of the matter to invoice a client.
Sometimes, clients do not want to pay a monthly invoice and then a small invoice weeks later for work that came after the last regular invoice was generated. In addition, some clients specifically request invoices at the end of a matter due to budgetary reasons or internal workflows. So long as a client reliably pays bills it is usually advisable to wait until the end of a matter to invoice if the matter will conclude shortly after a monthly invoice timeframe.
In any case, lawyers should not be robotic in how they generate invoices for clients. Sometimes, attorneys can create better connections with clients if they wait to send bills to the people and businesses they serve.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
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