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Email template to request an itemized bill from your lawyer

Your lawyer sent a bill with a total that surprised you, or with entries so short ("legal services rendered," "review file") that you cannot tell what you paid for. You have the right to understand your bill before paying it. An itemized statement lists each piece of work by date, who did it, how long it took, and at what rate. Law firms usually track time in tenths of an hour, so a six-minute email shows as 0.1 hours. Costs the firm paid on your behalf, like court filing fees or copying, are called disbursements and should be listed separately. Asking by email keeps the request polite and on the record, and most firms produce this from their billing system in minutes.

Before you send

  • The invoice number, date, period covered, and total, plus the amount the firm has already taken from your retainer, if any.
  • Your fee agreement. Note the hourly rates it lists for the attorney and for paralegals, and any billing increment it promises.
  • Your own notes on what happened during the billing period: meetings, calls, court dates, and documents you received. You are going to compare these against the bill.
  • Whether you intend to pay the parts that look right now, or hold the whole bill until you have the detail. Say which.
Subject Request for itemized statement, invoice #[invoice number] 
Hi [attorney name],

I received invoice #[invoice number] dated [date] for [amount], covering [period]. Before I pay it, I'd like an itemized statement so I can understand the charges.

Could you send a breakdown that shows, for each entry:

- The date and a short description of the work
- Who performed it and their hourly rate
- The time recorded, in the increments set out in our fee agreement

Please also list any disbursements, such as filing fees or copying, as separate lines with the amount for each, and show how much of my retainer has been applied.

A few entries are more than I expected, particularly [example entry or the total for a month], so the detail would help me see what was involved. [I'll pay the undisputed portion now / I'll pay in full once I have the statement.]

Could you get this to me by [date]? Thanks for your help with the matter so far.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Most firms send the detail within a few days; it comes straight out of their timekeeping software. Pushback, or a statement that is just the same vague lines with times attached, means you should ask again and be specific about which entries need explaining.
  • Check the itemized bill against your fee agreement and your notes. Common problems: a paralegal's work billed at the attorney's rate, two people billed for the same meeting, or large blocks of time labeled "review."
  • Question specific entries in writing, calmly, in one list. Firms often reduce or write off entries they cannot explain, especially for a client who is otherwise paying on time.
  • If you cannot agree, many state bar associations run a fee dispute program that arbitrates between clients and lawyers at little or no cost.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get an itemized bill from my lawyer and check it 
Hi StandIn,

Please get an itemized statement for my lawyer's latest invoice and check it against what I agreed to.

Law firm: [firm name, attorney name, and email].
The invoice: [invoice number, date, period, and amount].
My fee agreement: [attorney and paralegal hourly rates, billing increment, and retainer amount].
What happened during that period, as far as I know: [meetings, calls, filings, documents].
Entries that look wrong: [examples, or "not sure yet"].

Request the breakdown, compare it with my agreement and notes, ask the firm to explain or adjust anything that does not add up, and bring me the results before I pay.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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