Law Firm Payment Processing: Card, eCheck and ACH Fees Compared

Law firm payment processing costs a percentage of every card or bank payment a client makes, and LawPay, sold on its own, also charges a flat $19 per firm per month, billed monthly [1–4]. Of the processors that publish a card rate, Smokeball Payments costs least in all three scenarios below and LawPay on its own costs most, but most of these processors work only inside a practice management or billing subscription that the scenarios do not count.

CosmoLex and TimeSolv do not publish their processing rates.

Card processing costs for law firms, a year, in three scenarios

Card processing costs for law firms, a year, in three scenarios

Processor	Card rate	Bank transfer rate	$5,000 a month in 10 card payments	$25,000 a month in 25 card payments	$100,000 a month in 50 card payments	Also needs
Smokeball	Smokeball Payments 2.9% + $0.20 Published [5–7]	0.8%, capped at $8 (ACH)	$1,764 [5–7]	$8,760 [5–7]	$34,920 [5–7]	Requires a Smokeball plan
Clio	Clio Payments 2.95% Published [8–12]	1% (eCheck)	$1,770 [8–12]	$8,850 [8–12]	$35,400 [8–12]	Requires a Clio Manage plan
LeanLaw	LeanLaw Payments (E-Payments) 2.95% Published [13–17]	1%, capped at $30 (ACH)	$1,770 [13–17]	$8,850 [13–17]	$35,400 [13–17]	Requires a LeanLaw plan
PracticePanther	PantherPayments 2.95% Published [18–22]	1% (eCheck)	$1,770 [18–22]	$8,850 [18–22]	$35,400 [18–22]	Requires a PracticePanther plan
QuickBooks Online	QuickBooks Payments (pay as you go) 2.99% Published [23–28]	1% (ACH)	from $1,794 [23–28]	from $8,970 [23–28]	from $35,880 [23–28]	Not stated
MyCase	LawPay Payments (in MyCase) 2.99% + $0.30 Published [1, 3, 29–32]	1% (eCheck)	$1,830 [1, 3, 29–32]	$9,060 [1, 3, 29–32]	$36,060 [1, 3, 29–32]	Requires a MyCase plan
LawPay	LawPay Monthly Pricing 2.99% + $0.30 Published [1–4, 33–35]	1% (eCheck)	$2,058 [1–4, 33–35]	$9,288 [1–4, 33–35]	$36,288 [1–4, 33–35]	Nothing else
CosmoLex	CosmoLex Pay Not published [36–39]					Requires a CosmoLex plan
TimeSolv	TimeSolv Pay Not published [40–42]					Requires a TimeSolv plan

What drives the cost of law firm payment processing

Card rates and per-payment fees

Every processor that publishes a rate charges a percentage of each card payment. Smokeball, LawPay and MyCase add a fixed fee per payment, which weighs more on small payments [5] [1]. Clio, LeanLaw, PracticePanther and QuickBooks Payments charge a percentage only. American Express costs more than other cards at Clio, LeanLaw, Smokeball, LawPay and MyCase [11] [13]. PracticePanther and QuickBooks Payments charge it the standard rate [18] [24]. QuickBooks Payments charges more for card details typed in by hand, and its pricing schedule applies that higher rate to card payments taken through third-party apps [24] [25].

eCheck and ACH rates

Bank payments cost less than cards at every processor that publishes both rates. Smokeball and LeanLaw cap their ACH fee per payment [5] [13]. Clio, PracticePanther, LawPay, MyCase and QuickBooks Payments state no cap, so on a large retainer the difference grows. PracticePanther lists ACH as a payment method but publishes no ACH rate [18]. LawPay charges its eCheck fee on every attempt, failed ones included [34].

Monthly fees

LawPay on its own charges a monthly fee per firm, which also covers invoicing, time tracking and unlimited users [1]. MyCase customers pay no LawPay monthly fee [29]. Smokeball, LeanLaw and PracticePanther say they charge no monthly fee [6] [17] [18]. QuickBooks Payments is pay as you go, with no setup costs [24].

Fees that apply only sometimes

The scenarios leave out fees that apply only in some cases. LawPay, inside MyCase or not, can add card-network pass-through fees, a monthly allocation of network fees for some accounts, and a surcharge on foreign cards [1]. QuickBooks Payments also charges extra on internationally issued cards [43]. MyCase’s help center also lists a fee for accounts that have not validated PCI compliance [30]. PracticePanther passes card-network fees through at cost each month when they apply [19]. Clio, LawPay, MyCase, PracticePanther and QuickBooks Payments publish a chargeback fee [44] [45] [32] [46] [43]. LeanLaw and Smokeball do not state one. TimeSolv charges an inactivity fee, of an unstated amount, when no payment is processed for 90 days [47].

Card surcharging

Some processors let the firm pass the card fee to the client as a surcharge. Clio limits the surcharge to the firm’s cost of accepting the card [10]. Smokeball and CosmoLex allow it on credit cards only, not debit cards [7] [48], and TimeSolv offers it too [41]. LeanLaw lets the firm absorb card fees or pass them to clients where its jurisdiction allows [13], and PracticePanther lists surcharging among PantherPayments features [18]. The Pay Later financing fee, paid by the firm when a client finances a bill through Affirm, cannot be passed on at Clio or MyCase [12] [49].

In New York and Illinois, advisory opinions from the state bar associations address charging the fee to clients. The New York opinion allows it if the fee is reasonable and the client agreed in advance NYSBA Op. 1258A, Digest / Conclusion [50]. The Illinois opinion allows a reasonable fee disclosed in advance, preferably in writing ISBA Op. 14-01, Digest [51].

A practice management subscription

Most processors here work only inside their vendor’s software, so the subscription is part of the cost. Smokeball’s rates come with a subscription it prices only through sales [52]. The table below shows the cheapest plan each processor needs; for LawPay, which needs no other plan, it shows LawPay’s own monthly fee.

Cheapest plan each payments product needs: cost a year at three team sizes

Cheapest plan each payments product needs: cost a year at three team sizes

Plan	Cost a year, 1 user	Cost a year, 5 users	Cost a year, 20 users
LawPay Monthly Pricing Published	$228 [1–4]	$228 [1–4]	$228 [1–4]
TimeSolv Pro, billed annually Published a,b	$516 [41, 55]	$2,580 [41, 55]	$10,320 [41, 55]
TimeSolv Pro, billed monthly Published a,b	$540 [41, 55]	$2,700 [41, 55]	$10,800 [41, 55]
PracticePanther Solo, billed annually Published c	$588 [20, 58, 59]	$2,940 [20, 58, 59]	$11,760 [20, 58, 59]
PracticePanther Solo, billed monthly Published c	$708 [20, 58, 59]	$3,540 [20, 58, 59]	$14,160 [20, 58, 59]
Clio Manage Starter Published d,e	from $588 [11, 62]	from $2,940 [11, 62]	from $11,760 [11, 62]
CosmoLex Launch, billed annually Published f	$588 [37, 65]	$2,940 [37, 65]	$11,760 [37, 65]
CosmoLex Launch, billed monthly Published f	$708 [37, 65]	$3,540 [37, 65]	$14,160 [37, 65]
MyCase Basic, billed annually Published g	$600 [29, 67, 68]	$3,000 [29, 67, 68]	$12,000 [29, 67, 68]
MyCase Basic, billed monthly Published g	$720 [29, 67, 68]	$3,600 [29, 67, 68]	$14,400 [29, 67, 68]
LeanLaw Core + QuickBooks Online Simple Start (1 accounting user) Published d,h	from $1,116 [27, 28, 70–78]	from $3,756 [27, 28, 70–78]	from $13,656 [27, 28, 70–78]

Processing fees and the client trust account

When a client pays a retainer by card into trust, the processing fee has to come from somewhere. An advisory Florida Bar ethics opinion on payment services says that, unless lawyer and client agree otherwise, the lawyer pays transaction fees and they do not come out of client trust funds, and chargebacks may not be taken from trust Fla. Bar Ethics Op. 21-2, Conclusion 3 [83]. The same opinion says client money received through a payment service must be moved promptly to the trust account Fla. Bar Ethics Op. 21-2, Part II.B.2 and Conclusion 2 [83]. Illinois’s rule comment says lawyers taking client funds by card, ACH or online payment must take reasonable steps to have them transferred immediately to a trust account, and does not address who bears the fees Ill. RPC 1.15 cmt. [5] [84]. An Illinois State Bar Association opinion, written under the earlier rule numbering, says that where card payments go into trust, the lawyer must deposit enough of the lawyer’s own money to cover the card fees ISBA Op. 14-01, Opinion (Question 1) [51].

Processors handle this differently, by their own account:

Where each processor takes its fees when a client pays into trust

Where each processor takes its fees when a client pays into trust

Processor	Fees on trust payments
Smokeball Payments	Not stated
Clio Payments	From the operating account; trust payments are deposited in full
LeanLaw Payments	From the operating account only
PantherPayments	From the operating account
QuickBooks Payments	Not stated on Intuit’s rate pages
LawPay in MyCase	From the operating account, whether the payment goes to trust or operating
LawPay	From the operating account, monthly; never debited from trust, chargebacks included
CosmoLex Pay	From an operating account, even when every payment goes to trust
TimeSolv Pay	Deposits arrive in full; fees are taken from the operating account the following month

Sources: Smokeball [5], Clio [9], LeanLaw [14], PracticePanther [21], QuickBooks Payments [23], MyCase [32], LawPay [33], CosmoLex [85], TimeSolv [47].

The nine processors, in table order

Smokeball

Smokeball Payments takes cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and eCheck into operating and trust accounts [5]. Smokeball does not say where fees on trust payments are taken from, and a firm can connect LawPay instead [86]. See Smokeball pricing.

Clio

Clio Payments is built into Clio Manage for US and Canadian firms, after an application [8]. Fees are taken from the operating account daily or monthly [9]. Clio ended its LawPay integration on August 31, 2026 [87]. See Clio pricing, including Clio Payments.

LeanLaw

LeanLaw’s payments are processed by Confido Legal, and the firm opens its own Confido Legal account from inside LeanLaw [14]. LeanLaw says there are no setup or termination fees [17]. See LeanLaw pricing.

PracticePanther

PantherPayments is run by Headnote, LLC, an affiliate of PracticePanther’s owner [20]. It charges no membership fee, processing minimum, PCI compliance fee or fee for extra trust accounts [18]. See PracticePanther pricing.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Payments takes card, digital wallet and ACH payments on QuickBooks Online invoices [23]. Intuit offers optional instant deposit and dispute protection for extra fees [24]. Intuit does not describe a trust accounting module for QuickBooks Online [88].

MyCase

MyCase takes payments through LawPay, built into all three plans, at LawPay’s published rates and with no LawPay monthly fee [29]. Trust and operating accounts are designated when LawPay is connected [31]. See MyCase pricing.

LawPay

LawPay is the one processor here sold on its own, with invoicing and time tracking in the monthly fee [1]. It connects to Smokeball, PracticePanther, CosmoLex, TimeSolv and other legal software [53]. A refund does not return the processing fee on the original payment [89]. See LawPay fees and pricing.

CosmoLex

CosmoLex Pay rates appear only during the merchant application [85]. It takes cards, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Affirm on every plan, and LawPay can be connected instead [36] [65]. See CosmoLex pricing.

TimeSolv

TimeSolv Pay rates are not published; TimeSolv calls them competitive [40]. Deposits arrive in full and fees are debited separately [42]. See TimeSolv pricing.

Law firm payment processing features compared

Legal payment processing: what each product includes

Legal payment processing: what each product includes

Feature	Smokeball	Clio	LeanLaw	PracticePanther	QuickBooks Online	MyCase	LawPay	CosmoLex	TimeSolv
Built-in payment processing	Yes [5, 86]	Yes [8]	Yes [14, 70]	Yes [18, 58, 90]	Yes [23]	Yes [29]	Yes [2]	Yes [36, 65]	Yes [40, 41]
Trust accounting	Yes [52, 91]	Yes [11, 92]	Yes [70, 93]	Yes [58, 94]	Partly [88, 95]	Yes [29]	Partly [33]	Yes [37, 65]	Yes: TimeSolv Legal [41, 96]
Billing	Yes [52, 97]	Yes [11]	Yes: Core, Pro, Elite [75, 98]	Yes [58]	Yes [27]	Yes [29]	Yes [2, 99]	Yes [37]	Yes [41]
Time tracking	Yes [52]	Yes [11, 100]	Yes: Core, Pro, Elite [70, 101]	Yes [58]	Yes: Essentials, Plus, Advanced [27, 102]	Yes [29]	Yes [1, 53]	Yes [37]	Yes [41]
QuickBooks Online integration	Yes [52, 103]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [11, 104, 105]	Yes [73, 74]	Yes [58, 106, 107]	Not stated	Yes: MyCase Pro, MyCase Advanced [29, 108]	Yes [2]	Yes [37, 65, 109–111]	Yes [41, 112]
Xero integration	Not stated [103]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [11, 113]	Not stated [17, 74]	No [114]	Not stated	Not stated [115]	Partly [53, 116, 117]	Not stated [118]	Yes [41]
Client portal	Yes: Boost, Grow, Prosper+ [52]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [11, 119]	Not stated [13]	Yes [58]	Not stated	Yes [29]	Partly [4]	Yes [37]	Yes [41]
Mobile app	Yes: Boost, Grow, Prosper+ [52]	Yes [11, 120]	Partly [101, 121, 122]	Yes [58]	Yes: Lite, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced [27]	Yes: MyCase Pro, MyCase Advanced [29, 68]	Yes [53]	Yes: Core, Pro [65]	Yes [41, 57]
Free trial	Yes: Bill, Boost [123–125]	Yes [11, 126]	Yes [70, 79]	Yes [58, 127]	Yes [27]	Yes [29]	Not stated [35]	Yes [37, 128]	Yes [41]