Welcome to LawCharge
Why LawCharge? Have you ever lost a potential client because they did not have a cash deposit? Do you have slow paying clients? Are there lingering accounts receivable on your books? Accepting credit cards is a staple of smart business practice and a law practice is a business. Stay ahead of your competition and offer your clients their choice of payment options with our Attorney - Merchant Account Programs Specifically Designed for Attorneys.
With LawCharge you can accept credit cards with confidence.
Compliance With Proper Trust Account Management
Finally! There is now a safe and reliable way for you to accept credit card payments from your clients; merchant account programs designed by an attorney for attorneys that will help you increase revenues, reduce write-offs, and collect on past-due billings.
LawCharge recognizes the inviolability of your trust (IOTA, IOLTA) account. We help you accept credit card payments with confidence. You decide, depending on the nature of the fees, where to deposit the funds. We give you the option of depositing to both your trust and operating accounts. The entire transaction amount will be deposited to the designated account, and any fees will be debited from your operating account only, at the end of the month. You maintain your current banking relationship.
No Commingling of Funds
The ABA and State Bars have addressed the issue of attorneys accepting credit cards. Until now, this payment method required the attorney to reconcile the funds in their trust account against the fees associated with credit card payments via a three step process:
The attorney must deposit the transaction amount from the client’s credit card directly to Trust / IOLTA;
Calculate the discount fee, and the transaction fee that is charged by the bank, and makeup that amount by writing a check from their operating account for additional deposit to the trust account;
When they receive the monthly processing statement, the attorney must then add the monthly processing fees and any other service fees back to the trust account by writing another check from their operating account. *
* Note: LawCharge does not charge a monthly processing, inactivity fee or any other junk fees.
Some attorneys deposit the entire transaction amount into their operating account and then write a check for deposit to the trust account. While their intentions may be honest, this is commingling of funds, no matter how short a time the money is in the operating account. This is a violation of proper trust account management and may not suffice if an audit were to occur. If it is client money it needs to go directly to the trust account.
All of these techniques are tedious and time consuming, and worse – they can lead to discrepancies in the client trust account. There have also been concerns of "charge-backs" in the event of a fee dispute. We've taken care of that as well. Because of these issues, many attorneys have simply opted to forego this payment method to the detriment of themselves and their clients.
LawCharge eliminates all of these problems with our Attorney-Merchant Account Programs. We know how important it is to grow your practice and still do all you can for your clients. Our programs will help you. We are committed to providing the very best to our fellow attorneys and it shows in everything we do. You can now take advantage of the many benefits available when you accept credit cards. Do yourself and your clients a favor. Call today and let us help you on your way to better returns for your hard-earned efforts; let us help get you on the road with an Attorney-Merchant Account program that specifically meets your needs.
Increase Revenue
Have you ever lost a potential client because they did not have a cash deposit?
Are there lingering accounts receivable on your books?
Do you have slow paying clients?
With our unique Attorney-Merchant account programs you can now offer your clients a payment option that meets their needs while meeting your own as well. In these uncertain economic times you need to stay a step ahead of your competition and offer your clients an option that will allow them to hold on to their cash and still be able to hire you. For some clients, the option to pay you by credit card may simply be an opportunity to earn those extra bonus points. You will discover that by accepting a credit card payment you can focus exclusively on your client’s matters; that onerous task of having to dun a client for payment will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
When you are paid 'up-front' you will increase your cash flow and reduce expensive time spent on collection efforts. The one time start-up cost is so much less than the average lost revenue of just one write-off!
How We Do It?
In 2000, CEO Tracy L. Griffin, Esq. founded LawCharge, the first of its kind merchant account processing company designed for the attorneys specific needs for accepting credit cards. LawCharge joined forces with ECHO (Electronic Clearing House, Inc.). ECHO is one of the top ten payment processors nationwide and processes over $7 billion in payments each year. ECHO is an industry leader in state of the art payment systems including credit and debit card processing, check verification, check conversion, check guarantee and collection services. Attorney-Merchant Accounts are sponsored by National Bank of CA (Member FDIC).
Together LawCharge and ECHO worked to develop a unique Attorney-Merchant account program that for the first time made it easy and more convenient for attorneys to accept a credit card payment from their clients. LawCharge was the first, and we are still the best.
You can accept all major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card as well as debit cards. There are no contract periods, no junk fees and our rates are competitive. We also offer electronic check verification, conversion and check guarantee services. We can set you up for Online and ‘Shopping Cart’ processing for those of you offering legal services on the Internet. When you open your Attorney-Merchant Account with LawCharge you will have access to our 'live person' best in the business customer service personnel, 24/7/365.
Whatever your processing needs, we will help you increase your revenues, reduce your accounts receivable and let you offer your clients their choice of payment methods. If the client chooses to charge your fees for the ‘bonus points’ they may earn or because they may need to hold on to their available cash — you will be able to give them the payment option that meets their needs... and best of all — you will have your fees paid up-front and in-full.
Costs
SET-UP PRICES
Terminal, and /or Web site and shopping cart processing. For detailed information as well as an opportunity to discuss the best option for your specific needs and the associated costs - give us a call. We will work with you on all charges and remember to ask if you qualify for any of our affiliate discount programs!
OTHER FEES *
* LawCharge does NOT charge a monthly minimum or inactivity fee, invoice fee, gateway, batch, ACH or any other junk fees.
Technical Support Fee: $10.00; Only Charged If There Is Activity During A Billing Cycle
(no activity = no fee)
Transaction Fee: .19 - .78 Cents Per Transaction (depending upon type of processing).
Discount Fees: Determined Upon Type of Processing and Receipt of Application. You May Call in Advance for a Conditional Quote.
Please ask about our check conversion, verification and guarantee services.
If You Choose to Charge Your Start-Up Costs LawCharge Proudly Accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.
Please ask about our check conversion, verification and guarantee services.
If You Choose to Charge Your Start-Up Costs LawCharge Proudly Accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.
