Legal services invoice
Invoice template for lawyers and law firms: contract review services, legal advisory meeting and opinion letter drafting. Download it as Excel or Word.
Templates by industry
- Contract review services
- Legal advisory meeting
- Opinion letter drafting
Preparation guide
Example workflow
Confirm scope and quantities
Example: reconcile the approval and work record for "Contract review services" to establish the quantity for this invoice.
Record delivery and acceptance
Check completion for every line, including "Opinion letter drafting". Hand over the final report or activity record with the versions of the inputs reviewed.
Send the billing record
Send the final charges, delivery reference and due date to the customer, then reconcile payment against the invoice number.
Lawyers and law firms send this invoice to a client for work on a matter, here a contract review, an advisory meeting and a written opinion. Each line should identify the work closely enough that the client’s legal or finance team can approve it without asking: the document and version reviewed, the date and length of the meeting, and the date the opinion was delivered. Court fees, registry charges and other costs paid for the client belong on separate lines from professional fees.
Fields to prepare
- Deliverables and line items
- Contract review services, Legal advisory meeting, Opinion letter drafting: record the quantities actually supplied and the service period.
- Contract review services
- Name the contract and the version reviewed, and bill the hours or the fixed fee agreed for the review.
- Legal advisory meeting
- Give the date, length and attendees of the meeting, and bill preparation time only if it was agreed.
- Opinion letter drafting
- State the subject of the opinion and the date it was delivered; revisions requested later are billed separately.
- Assignment and inputs
- Identify the subject, source versions, and the inputs the client will supply with their due dates.
- Time and completion basis
- State the hourly or fixed-fee basis, meeting allowance, output format and review rounds.
- Scope to agree
- Record the matter or contract reference, reviewed document version, advisory time and opinion-letter delivery date.
Before sending
- Does “Contract review services” show the quantity actually supplied, not the quantity first quoted?
- Is “Legal advisory meeting” charged at the rate the customer agreed to, with any change approved?
- Is “Opinion letter drafting” finished and accepted, or does it belong on a later invoice?
Show 3 more
- Check whether meeting preparation and follow-up revisions are included in the fee.
- Name the person who can approve additional research or a change in scope.
- Match completed work to the order or approval record, and confirm the payment due date and amounts already received.
Worked example with sample figures
The figures below are invented to show how the template adds up: 3 lines in USD, with an example tax rate of 8%.
| Item | Quantity × unit price | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Contract review services | 3 × $95.00 | $285.00 |
| Legal advisory meeting | 6 × $120.00 | $720.00 |
| Opinion letter drafting | 10 × $95.00 | $950.00 |
| Subtotal | $1,955.00 | |
| Sales tax (8%) | $156.40 | |
| Total | $2,111.40 | |
Net amount $1,955.00, sales tax $156.40, total payable $2,111.40.
What the document must show
The details an invoice has to show, and why each one matters, are set out in the guide below.
The sales tax depends on where the work is supplied, so set the rate that applies to your customer before sending.
Official rate reference: US government: state and local taxes
Full requirements: How to write an invoice: a step-by-step example
Frequently asked questions
How do I show time recorded in six-minute units?
Enter the hours as decimals, for example 1.3 hours, with the hourly rate. If the client asked for a detailed time record, attach it rather than putting every entry on the invoice, and refer to it in the line description.
Can fixed-fee work and hourly work be on one invoice?
Yes. Bill the fixed fee with a quantity of one and the hourly work with the hours as the quantity, and say in each line which basis applies. The client’s finance team can then check each line against the engagement letter.
Where does a retainer paid in advance go?
Show the fees in full on the lines and, in the notes, the amount drawn from the retainer and the balance left. The client sees both the work billed and what remains, without the lines being reduced to zero.
How is the sales tax worked out on this invoice?
The worked example above uses an example rate of 8%: $156.40 on a net amount of $1,955.00, for a total of $2,111.40. The editor recalculates all three when you change a quantity, a price or the country.
Can I change the layout and colour?
Yes. The editor offers other layouts and a document colour for the printed page. Changing them moves no figure: the lines and totals stay as they are, and the PDF, Word and Excel files follow the layout you pick.
Read next
Reading for the Legal services invoice: How to write an invoice: a step-by-step example and Invoice numbering: sequences and corrections. The VAT and GST calculator works out the tax line for you.