This boutique injury firm runs multiple case-management instances, keeps two separate ledgers (in-house plus an outside CPA), and has a forensic CPA on standby for audits. It is deliberately not a volume shop. Its problems weren't speed — they were fraud, stale funds, and a reconciliation process the partner described bluntly: “The reconciliation period is very interesting. We don't have that.”
What Happened
- The theft, in the partner's words: “It put out 5 checks… in the mail… The mailman jacked it… They photoshopped the names only. and deposited in some random Texas bank… 40,000 left.” The bank eventually recovered it — but the firm stopped trusting the mail
- The workaround: staff now physically drop off checks to some doctors and “really watch” every mailed check until it clears
- No reconciliation: “When we don't get it out, we don't know. It's just gone… It's a big problem.”
- Stale trust funds accumulating for years: “it stays in the account for 15-20 years, and then when we close up shop, you're up a million bucks”
- Uncashed checks with no process: a client returned after eight months to pick up four checks totaling $40,000–$50,000, forcing a bank verification, void, and reissue cycle
How Disbo Replaces This Flow
- Electronic payments via Quick Pay and Standard Pay replace hand-delivered and watched checks for payees who can take them
- Checks that must be mailed go out through Lob with printing and tracking — the firm can see where every check is instead of watching a bank feed
- Uncashed and outstanding items are visible per matter, so stale trust funds surface instead of accumulating for years
- Reconciliation runs continuously against the per-case ledger, giving the firm the one thing the partner said he couldn't figure out
The firm was candid that a hands-on practice may spend as much time in a system as out of one — “it's just cleaner.” What it wanted was the piece it never had: “For me, none of it is really a problem, except the reconciliation. That, if I could figure that out, that's a big issue.” Disbo is designed to make that piece automatic, and the firm planned a 15–20 case trial.