The amount of time it takes for a corporate legal department to pay an invoice has been a point of tension between in-house counsel and the firms they work with. To ease that tension, CounselLink, a matter management platform made by LexisNexis, has partnered with capital solutions provider LSQ to create CounselLink FastTrack to help law firms get paid faster.

"It's an age-old challenge for law firms and the corporations they work for," Aaron Pierce, general manager of CounselLink, said in an interview. "It's in their [legal departments'] best interest to hang onto cash as long as they can. Because of the delays in payment, some of the smaller or more boutique firms can't work with certain legal departments."

Recognizing this issue is what led CounselLink to partner with LSQ. The platform allows for law firms to get paid on approved invoices within one business day, in exchange for a fee, which is a percentage of the invoice. In turn, the corporations have the opportunity to extend payment terms to 60 days or more and earn 2% cash back on invoices processed through CounselLink FastTrack.

"The corporations get to extend normal payment terms," Pierce explained. "The law firms get to take advantage of prompt payments in exchange for a service fee out of the legal invoice."

Pierce said that there is normally a period where there is some skepticism over new legal operations platforms. He said this has been an easy sell.

"It's not often that you get a win-win arrangement," Pierce explained. "Clients and law firms see the value in this offering."

This is a conversation that transcends the legal department and legal operations, Pierce said. This kind of service is something the chief financial officer's office also has an interest in.

"By giving corporate clients more flexible payment terms, we help general counsel and chief financial officers manage capital and cash flow with more precision and predictability and achieve additional cash-back savings for the corporation," Pierce said.

As far as Pierce is aware, this is the first offering of its kind in the legal market. However, he said he would expect similar platforms to pop up in the marketplace in the future.