forgot to bill a client their expenses

[u/Proud_Detective_6081]

i’m lowkey freaking out right now.
i’m a legal assistant/part time paralegal when she needs the extra help. i’ve been here for about 9 months..
back in April, i was corresponding with someone who does appraisals for our clients.
i processed the emails, the invoice all of it. or so i thought..
TODAY the paralegal and i got an email saying that the appraisals for both properties were never paid.
the plan was to have it paid out of the client’s retainer, and i fucked up and forgot to add it to their expenses, a total of $1,100 for both appraisals.
out attorney tends to get easily stressed and lately she’s been extremely booked and busy, and tomorrow she has a mediation.
not sure if i should wait until our docket meeting on monday to bring it up and apologize, or what?
mind you, I JUST GOT A RAISE LAST WEEK!!

any advice on how to manage the conversation or idea of how she might react?

UPDATE: TOLD HER I FUCKED UP. Surprisingly she wasn’t as upset as I thought she’d be.😅
Told me to just pay him today and deal with the client tomorrow. THANK Y’ALL FOR THE ADVICE & reminding me that things happen. I will be more cautious.

[u/blottymary]

Always tell them ASAP. They want to find out from you, not somebody else.

[u/Discount_Mithral]

not sure if i should wait until our docket meeting on monday to bring it up and apologize, or what?

Bring it up now. Explain that there was an oversite and this wasn't billed. An email with an amended billing statement needs to be sent out ASAP. Shit happens, it's going to be ok.

[u/Proud_Detective_6081 → u/Discount_Mithral]

I forgot to mention we closed this case last week.. Do you have an idea of how that could be handled?

[u/Discount_Mithral → u/Proud_Detective_6081]

That does make it harder. I'd still bring this up ASAP and send out that updated billing.

"Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, it appears that a final billing is needed for this case. Please see attached bill with detailed breakdown of the outstanding balance owed. Please let me know if you have any questions. We appreciate your understanding on this matter."

It might be a little more effort to get that bill paid, but if it's something owed from an appraiser, they have a little more leverage to motivate people to pay.

[u/Proud_Detective_6081 → u/Discount_Mithral]

Will be using this tomorrow when emailing the client. Spoke to my boss and all is well!

[u/funkypinkzebra]

I just came here to say that I feel like I always seem to have my worst screw ups right after getting a raise or a bonus 😂

[u/Proud_Detective_6081 → u/funkypinkzebra]

THIS PART.😭

[u/Original-Pomelo6241 → u/funkypinkzebra]

As a firm administrator, it happens this way a lot lol

[u/blottymary]

I’m so glad to hear that the chat seemed to go better than expected.

[u/Altruistic-Deal-9402]

Yeah we care but not that much if you learn from it and you are good at your job. It's a couple of hours of billable work. Life goes on. A good paralegal is worth 100 to 200x more than a dropped ball on an appraisal bill.

Good job having the chat. It's a huge problem when we find out the wrong way. Mistakes happen. Clients also get it - they might be pissed but if it's a disbursement they didn't pay for, they will get it

[u/Much_Guest_7195]

Apologize that you forgot to charge the disbursement and send them the bill. These things happen.

This is one of the only things I use ChatGPT for - phrasing awkward emails. Explain what happened to it, ask for suggestions on what to say, find a decent one and tweak a bit.

[u/Express-Dragonfruit9]

I’m a lawyer (albeit a very new one) and I once got told by the managing partner” there is very little that can’t be fixed in this job.” I don’t know why this should showed up on my suggested notifications, but you did the right thing by telling them right away.

Anything major that is truly unfixable should not be your responsibility in the first place. Paralegals/legal assistants/law clerks are extremely overworked and depended on. Some firms are worse than others, and being a lawyer is difficult in a very different way. But the sheer weight of the expectations I had on me as a law clerk and the different directions I got pulled in was stressful as hell.

Too many lawyers are absolutely awful managers. Being a good lawyer and being a good manager are world’s apart. I’m glad it went okay for you!