Billing Software for Legal Mediation

Legal Mediators provide a way of finding a mutually beneficial solution. Legal Mediators provide help to parties in a non-partisan manner. They assist in resolving the dispute between parties who want to settle the matter out of the court. Mediation is a non-binding process, and the mediator is not the judge. A mediator does not decide the winner or loser of the case. Mediators only help parties in identifying the best solution and achieve them.

Mediation begins with a joint session in the presence of the two sides or their representatives. However, some parties skip the joint meeting and directly start with private meetings which are called caucuses.

There is a difference between arbitration and mediation

In arbitration the two parties may hire a private judge. The trial goes in a similar way as it goes before a judge of a court and witnesses and evidence are presented before the hired judge. The hired judge (arbitrator) makes legally binding decisions on the two parties involved. However, in mediation, the decisions are made by the parties themselves with the aid of the Legal Mediator. In a case of mediation alone, the control over the case is maintained by the parties.

Do you know what does court-certified mean?

Not all the mediators called court-certified. A mediator will be called court-certified if he has taken classes as per the Supreme Court of Virginia and is certified by the Supreme Court.

The benefit of mediation over two lawyer adversary

1. Relationship: The mediation is carried on in a peaceful environment which is calm and controlled. Mediation removes hostilities and suspicion. In Litigation, parties tend to become more hostile and suspicious about others.
2. Cost: The parties have to bear the litigation cost in addition to the settlement.
3. Time: Average mediation case is resolved within 1-3 months. Mediation is more efficient because parties can communicate directly.
4. Confidentiality: The proceedings in the process of mediation are not in public domain. The two parties can exchange information confidentially.

Legal billing software for mediators

Billing processes for mediators is a complex work, especially when they have to split the bills among different clients. It is very common for mediators to face challenges in time tracking in the day-to-day activities of mediation. Mediators who come across such challenges in their legal services have to spend their valuable working hours in tracking time and billing activities like generating invoices manually. Automated billing software rescues the mediators by simplifying the process of generating invoices based on legal work. Sometimes mediator is involved with other legal associates who are working on split bill case then things become much more complicated.

How is split billing simplified by an automated system?

A billing software with the option of split billing is definitely an added advantage. There is no need to change entries as is done during the manual process. In split billing, typically changes in percentages are made for billing. This change is clearly reflected in the invoice amount. There is no need to re-enter the data thus eliminating the errors.

Legal billing software makes it easy to automate the workflow. It tracks billing hours and sends reminders to the client for payments. It reduces manual efforts of the mediator by generating customized invoices. The software brings up data automatically for future entries, and there is no manual effort required in searching or adding of the records.

TimesManager is a cloud based Legal billing software designed specifically for law firms to efficiently manage time tracking, invoicing & billing activities. TimesManager Lawyer billing software offers accessibility to time and expense tracking, split billing, CRM and document management. To make the bill processing more efficient, the software also integrates with LEDES, ABA and UTBMS task code applications.

Writer experienced in writing business and financial articles.