Legl will today publish a report that explores how law firms are using digital payments to transform their financial health. It covers the five biggest trends shaping legal payment in 2025, from open banking to AI.
Legl’s report finds that 66% of clients now prefer online payment methods for legal bills, with credit cards ranking as the most popular. Cheques and cash are falling out of favour, with 1 in 5 clients now choosing those methods.
It isn’t surprising that clients are expecting modern payment methods. With traditional bank transfers, the process can take up to eight steps and nine minutes, plus a card reader, to pay a bill. In the report, Julia Taylor, director of client services at Debenhams Ottaway, says: “Clients started using payment links almost immediately, and our finance team found that many clients now pay more quickly than they would have otherwise. In fact, we’ve saved 60-70 hours across 600+ payments.”
While convenience and speed is a factor, so is security. In the report, Helen Strachan, practice manager at Burnett and Reid, says: “Using a portal, like the one Legl provides, is more secure and gives clients more peace of mind when sharing this kind of information.” In Legl’s case, they partner with listed Dutch payments solution Adyen.
Cash flow is a key factor for clients. The report finds that the percentage of bills pays within 50 days increases from 75% to 80% with online payments. Firms also benefit from better real time performance data and analytics, picking up on intelligence around when to submit payments for the quickest payment. Submitting payments earlier in the week leads to faster payment, for example.
The five payment trends that are facilitating transformation are identified in the report as the rise of open banking; embedded payments; 24/7 payment processing; automation and AI in payment management; and security, compliance and regulatory resilience, with built in KYC and AML checks.
For a deeper dive on all of those things, be the first to get the report when it’s out: https://go.legl.com/legalpaymentsreport