Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard
Encyclopedia
The Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard is a set of file format specifications intended to standardize bill/invoice data transmitted electronically ("e-billed") from a law firm
to a corporate
client. It is abbreviated LEDES and is usually pronounced as "leeds".
LEDES was developed by the LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC), which was formed by the PricewaterhouseCoopers
Law Firm and Law Department Services Group. Members of the committee include law firms, corporate legal departments, electronic billing vendors and time and billing software vendors. The LOC was incorporated as a California
non-profit mutual benefit corporation in 2000.
The file format has several variations:
Many clients using LEDES use Uniform Task-Based Management System
, a legal task classifcation system.
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
to a corporate
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
client. It is abbreviated LEDES and is usually pronounced as "leeds".
LEDES was developed by the LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC), which was formed by the PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
Law Firm and Law Department Services Group. Members of the committee include law firms, corporate legal departments, electronic billing vendors and time and billing software vendors. The LOC was incorporated as a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
non-profit mutual benefit corporation in 2000.
The file format has several variations:
- LEDES 1998, the first "LEDES" format, created in 1998, but no longer in use.
- LEDES 1998B, a pipe-delimited plain text file. The standard was adopted in 1998, and it is by far the more commonly used LEDES format. It lacks some flexibility, having a rigid structure. Another disadvantage of LEDES 1998B is that invoice-level data is repeated on every line item even though it is only needed once, as it does not vary per line. Many clients attempt to impose nonstandard customizations, thus defeating the purpose of having a standard. Nonetheless, law firms prefer it for its simplicity and familiarity.
- LEDES 2000, adopted in 2000, is an XMLExtensible Markup LanguageExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
format. Adoption of this newer standard has been slow. One advantage of LEDES 2000 is that although the structure is very well defined, the specification defines "extend" segments, allowing the insertion of client-specific fields without breaking the format or violating the standard. - LEDES 1998B-INTL (international), a pipe-delimited plain text file, based on the LEDES 1998B standard. This format was designed to accommodate legal bills generated outside of the United States. It includes all of the fields in the LEDES 1998B format, plus additional ones. The format was proposed in 2004 by the Legal IT Innovators Group (LITIG). The LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC) ratified the format in 2006.
- XML E-Billing version 2, ratified in 2006 but yet to see adoption, is intended to improve upon LEDES 2000.
- XML E-Billing version 2.1 improves upon version 2.
- LEDES Budget Standard was ratified in 2006. This XML format is intended to facilitate the exchange of budget data between law firms and clients.
- Timekeeper Attribute Standard is a proposed XML format intended to be used to transmit timekeeper and rate data to from law firms to clients.
Many clients using LEDES use Uniform Task-Based Management System
Uniform Task-Based Management System
The Uniform Task-Based Management System is a set of codes designed to standardize categorization and facilitate analysis of legal work and expenses...
, a legal task classifcation system.
See also
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)Electronic Data InterchangeElectronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...
- Expense and Cost Recovery System (ECRS)Expense and Cost Recovery System (ECRS)Expense and Cost Recovery Systems An Expense and Cost Recovery System is a specialized subset of “Extract – Transform – Load” functioning as a powerful and flexible set of applications, including programs, scripts and databases designed to improve the cash flow of businesses and organizations by...
- Extract - Transform - Load (ETL)Extract, transform, loadExtract, transform and load is a process in database usage and especially in data warehousing that involves:* Extracting data from outside sources* Transforming it to fit operational needs...