The retainer ran out two weeks before the hearing, and nobody asked.
How familiar does this sound? The custody hearing is Thursday. Somebody pulls the file Wednesday afternoon and finds the retainer went to zero two weeks ago, somewhere in the back and forth over discovery, and nobody asked the client for more because nobody likes making that call. You can't step away from a hearing that close, so you work it, you bill it, and the invoice joins the ones that get paid when they get paid. If you bill hourly against a retainer, you have a version of that matter. My guess is one is open right now.
The client isn't the problem. The asking is a job nobody owns. The balance is in your practice software tonight. The hearing is on your calendar. The engagement letter already says the client adds to the retainer when it hits the floor. Three facts in three places, and the only thing connecting them is somebody remembering to look.
What I'd set up
Every night, every open matter's retainer balance is checked against the floor you set and the work on the calendar. A client at the floor gets a polite note from the firm with a link to add to the retainer, then reminders on your schedule, and each morning you get one list: who is low, sorted by the next court date. It never moves money. It reads a balance and sends a request, and the payment goes through your processor into trust, the way it does today. A text never says a word about the case. For the first weeks a person in your office approves every request, and once a week a practice matter runs through to prove nothing broke.
The rules it follows
- It never moves money. It reads a balance and sends a request, and the payment goes through your processor into trust, the way it does today.
- You set the floor, the schedule and the words. For the first weeks, a person at the firm approves every request before a client sees it.
- A text never mentions the case or the hearing, and goes only to a client the firm already texts. It says the retainer is low and gives the link; the amount is on the link's page. Asked if it's an AI, it says so.
- A client's question goes to a person at the firm. Nothing agrees to a payment plan, changes a term or says what happens if she doesn't pay.
- Once a week a practice matter runs through, start to finish, and cleans up after itself. No client ever sees it. If something broke, you get one text.
The floor, the terms, the tone and every decision about a client's account stay with you.
Working demo
One low retainer, from Wednesday's list to Melissa's text.
Put your firm's name in, then follow one Wednesday: the list you read with your coffee, the requests Beth approves, Melissa's text back, and the Sunday practice run that proves nothing broke.
The firm, the clients and the matters are made up. The replies were written in advance and play back in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page, and the pay link is a drawing.
It signs every text here, and never leaves this page.
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Wednesday
Before anyone's in. Checked overnight.
Three retainers low, the nearest hearing first
Your whole list for the day. Thirty seconds to read.
Wednesday's list
31 open matters checked. 3 at the floor.
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Next date on the calendar: Hearing in 8 days
Reyes, custody
Hit the floor last night. Request drafted.
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Next date on the calendar: Mediation in 3 weeks
Tolliver, divorce
Under since Friday. Reminder drafted.
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Next date on the calendar: No date set
Osborne, modification
Two weeks under. Second reminder due.
28 above the floor. Nothing to do.
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Wednesday
Beth's desk. The first weeks, she reads every one.
Beth reads three requests and sends two
A person approves every request before a client sees it.
Three requests, waiting on Beth
Cleared by 8:52
- Sent as drafted
- Reyes and Tolliver, by text and email at 8:52.
- Held
- Osborne. She called yesterday, paying Friday. Beth paused the reminders till Monday.
Status
- Two requests out, each logged on its matter.
- Osborne is back on your list Monday if nothing's in.
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Wednesday
Melissa's lunch break. Her text went at 8:52.
Melissa pays from her phone, and asks one thing
The link goes to your processor. Her question goes to Beth.
- Cages Bend Family LawHi Melissa, it's Cages Bend Family Law. Your retainer is running low. Here's the link to add to it: Add to your retainer. Any question, just reply here.
- Melissaok done. can i do the next one in two parts? i get paid the 15th and the 30th
- Cages Bend Family LawGot it, thank you, it came through. Two parts, the 15th and the 30th: that's one for Beth, so it's on her desk now. Receipt's on its way to your email.
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Sunday
Every Sunday, before anyone's in.
A practice matter, every Sunday
If something broke, you get a text.
Sunday's practice run: passed
A made-up matter, cleared at 6:04
- Balance
- Hit the floor, on the list.
- Text
- Hit the practice phone, link works.
- Pay link
- Opened. No money moved.
Status
- All three passed. No client texted.
The text you'd get if it failed
Cages Bend Family Law Sunday practice run: the request never reached the practice phone. Requests on hold until a person clears it. No client affected.
What a dry retainer costs you
Put in your hourly rate and how many hours last week went to matters that were at the floor, and the figures change with them.
The starting figure is an example. Change it to yours.
Last week's: the hearing you couldn't step away from, the filing that was due, the calls. Hours you'll bill and hope for.
Work done ahead of the money
- A week
- $750
- A month
- $3,250
- A year
- $39,000
Rough math: the week times 52 for the year, divided by 12 for the month. Some of it gets collected later. The figure is what's riding on an invoice instead of sitting in trust.
How you'd set this up yourself
Five steps, most of them settings in software you already have.
Write the floor down, per matter type
If your engagement letter says the client adds to the retainer at a set balance, the rest is keeping a term the client already signed. Write the floor down for each matter type, and who at the firm may change it.
Turn on the low-balance notice you may already have
Check what your practice software does with a trust balance under a threshold before building anything. Set the threshold to your floor and write the request yourself, in the firm's voice, with nothing about the case in it.
Put the court date next to the balance
A short scheduled job pulls the matters at the floor and the next event on each one's calendar, sorts by date and sends you the list at 6:00. Any scheduler can run it. The sort is the part the software doesn't do for you.
Send through your processor, by text and email
A payment link from your processor, set to deposit to trust, in a text from the firm's number and an email. A reminder at three days, another at seven, a call task for staff at ten. A client's reply lands on a person's desk.
Approve first, then run a practice matter weekly
For the first weeks, every request lands on one desk for an OK before it sends. Then once a week, a made-up matter that drops to its floor, sends its request to a practice phone and cleans up after itself, with one text to you if something broke.
If you'd rather not build this, I'll set it up in the practice software and the payment processor you already use, run a practice matter through it every week, and send you a short note once a month. Your people approve every request, and nothing touches trust money.
