Send Electronic Settlement Disbursements.
From One IOLTA Account.
The best way for PI law firms to send electronic settlement disbursements
Disbo is how personal injury firms send electronic settlement disbursements — paying clients, attorneys, co-counsel, medical providers, and lienholders simultaneously from the IOLTA trust account via ACH, wire, FedNow, or check.
- Pay every party electronically in a single run
- ACH, wire, FedNow, and check — selectable per payee
- Automatic IOLTA ledger posting and overdraft prevention
- Full disbursement statement and audit trail generated automatically
Integrates with the tools you already use
What is the best way to send electronic settlement disbursements?
The best way to send electronic settlement disbursements is through IOLTA-compliant disbursement software that pays every party — the client, attorneys, co-counsel, medical providers, and lienholders — electronically from the trust account in a single run. Disbo sends these payments by ACH, wire, FedNow, or check, posts each to the matter ledger automatically, validates the math against the trust balance, and blocks any payment that would overdraw the account.
What "electronic settlement disbursement" means
An electronic settlement disbursement is the distribution of settlement proceeds to every payee — the client, attorneys, co-counsel, medical providers, and other lienholders — using electronic payment rails instead of hand-written checks. When a personal injury case settles, the funds land in the firm's IOLTA trust account, and each party is owed a specific share defined on the settlement statement.
Sending those payments electronically is faster and creates a cleaner record than printing and mailing checks — but only if every payment still posts to the trust ledger and the firm keeps the documentation bar rules require. That is the difference between simply wiring money and running a compliant disbursement workflow. Need a starting point? Grab our free settlement statement template.
The best way to send electronic settlement disbursements
Purpose-built disbursement software runs the entire payout in one operation — from settlement statement to simultaneous multi-party payment — with the trust accounting handled automatically. Here is how that workflow runs in Disbo.
Record the settlement deposit
The incoming wire or check is posted as a trust deposit to the matter sub-ledger. The IOLTA balance and matter balance update immediately. No funds can be disbursed until the deposit is recorded and the cleared balance is verified.
Build the disbursement sheet
Upload the settlement statement and Disbo extracts each payee and amount. Confirm lien figures match the resolved amounts, select a payment rail per payee — ACH, wire, FedNow, or check — and review the totals.
Validate and authorize
Disbo checks that total disbursements equal the settlement amount and never exceed the cleared trust balance. If the math doesn't reconcile, it flags the issue before any payment releases. The attorney authorizes the run.
Pay everyone electronically, at once
Every payee is paid simultaneously via their selected rail. Each payment posts to the matter ledger, and Disbo generates the disbursement statement, payment confirmations, and a complete audit trail.
How to pay medical providers electronically from a settlement
Medical providers and lienholders are paid in the same electronic run as the client and attorneys — once their liens are resolved. There is no separate provider check-writing process.
Resolve the lien
Negotiate and confirm the final amount owed to each medical provider. With Disbo, resolved amounts from the lien negotiation workflow flow directly onto the disbursement sheet — no re-typing.
Add the provider as a payee
Each provider appears as a line on the settlement disbursement sheet with their resolved amount and preferred payment rail — ACH, wire, FedNow, or check.
Pay in the same run
Provider payments execute at the same time as the client and attorney payments, directly from the IOLTA trust account, with the total validated against the trust balance first.
Document automatically
Each provider payment posts to the matter ledger and generates a payment confirmation for the provider and the case file — no separate bookkeeping step.
Staying IOLTA-compliant when you disburse electronically
The payment rail does not change the compliance requirement. Whether funds move by ACH, wire, FedNow, or check, the bar still expects each disbursement to run through the trust ledger, balances to reconcile, and records to be retained.
Disbo enforces this automatically: it distinguishes cleared funds from provisional credits, blocks any payment that would overdraw the matter or the trust account, and retains the full record set. See the state-by-state rules on the IOLTA compliance hub.
What stays compliant in an electronic disbursement
- Every payment posts to the IOLTA matter sub-ledger
- Disbursements blocked if they exceed cleared funds
- Running trust and per-matter balances kept in real time
- Settlement disbursement statement generated automatically
- Per-payee payment confirmations retained in the case file
- Complete audit trail of who authorized each disbursement
Paper checks vs. manual transfers vs. Disbo
How each approach handles sending settlement disbursements electronically.
| Paper Checks | Manual Transfers | Disbo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Send payments electronically | Print and mail checks | Manual one-off transfers | ACH, wire, FedNow, or check |
| Pay every party at once | One check at a time | One transfer at a time | All payees in a single run |
| IOLTA ledger posting | Separate manual entry | Separate manual entry | Automatic on every payment |
| Overdraft prevention | None — discovered later | None — discovered later | Blocked before release |
| Pay medical providers electronically | Mailed provider checks | Manual provider transfers | Provider rail of choice, in-run |
| Disbursement documentation | Manual statement + copies | Manual assembly | Generated automatically |
Compare Disbo to existing tools at the comparison hub, review the PI settlement disbursement page, or book a demo.
Frequently asked questions about electronic settlement disbursements.
The best way to send electronic settlement disbursements is through IOLTA-compliant disbursement software that pays every party — the client, attorneys, co-counsel, medical providers, and lienholders — electronically from the trust account in a single run. The software should post each payment to the matter ledger automatically, support ACH, wire, FedNow, and check, and block any payment that would overdraw the trust account. This replaces hand-written checks and spreadsheet settlement sheets, which are slower and more error-prone.
PI firms pay medical providers electronically by including each provider as a payee in the settlement disbursement run. After liens are resolved, the negotiated amount for each provider is entered on the disbursement sheet and paid via the rail the provider accepts — ACH, wire, FedNow, or check. With Disbo, provider payments execute at the same time as the client and attorney payments, each posts to the IOLTA matter ledger, and a payment confirmation is generated for the provider and the case file.
Yes — electronic disbursement is IOLTA-compliant when each payment runs through the trust ledger and the firm keeps the records bar rules require. Disbo posts the incoming settlement deposit to the matter sub-ledger, records each electronic payment against that matter, maintains running balances, prevents negative balances, and generates the disbursement statement and audit trail. The payment rail (ACH, wire, FedNow, or check) does not change the compliance requirement; complete recordkeeping and reconciliation do.
Electronic settlement disbursements can be sent by ACH, wire transfer, FedNow, or printed check. Attorney fees and client net proceeds typically go by ACH or wire for speed; medical providers and lienholders are paid via whichever rail they accept. Disbo lets you select the payment method per payee inside a single disbursement run.
Yes. Disbo executes all payments in a settlement simultaneously from the IOLTA trust account — client, attorney, co-counsel, medical providers, and lienholders — rather than processing them one at a time over several days. The math is validated against the trust balance before any payment is released, so no transaction can exceed the available cleared funds.
Case management software tracks case status, deadlines, and documents, but it is not built for trust accounting or multi-party payment execution. Electronic settlement disbursement software is purpose-built to post to the IOLTA ledger, pay multiple parties electronically in one run, prevent overdrafts, and generate bar-ready documentation — capabilities general case management tools do not provide.
A proper electronic disbursement produces a settlement disbursement statement listing every payee, amount, and payment method; an individual payment confirmation for each transaction; updated IOLTA matter ledger entries; and a full audit trail showing who authorized the disbursement and when. With Disbo these records are generated automatically as a byproduct of the disbursement, ready for client review and bar audits.
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Send your next settlement disbursement
electronically, in one run.
Pay every party from your IOLTA account by ACH, wire, FedNow, or check — with automatic ledger posting and a full audit trail. Explore the disbursements feature or the full PI law firm platform.