Update: The standard has been ratified and now available here.
From Subcommittee Chair and LEDES Vice President Cathi Collins:
The Error Codes Subcommittee of the LEDES Oversight Committee is pleased to put before the membership Phase 1 of the proposed Standard Error Codes for public comment. The need for these codes has been apparent to our law firm members for many years as they struggle to work within the parameters of numerous marketplace systems to accommodate their clients. Each legal ebilling system and client implementation has their own unique error messages or codes, some more explanatory than others. These variations require hours to track down the source of the errors (i.e., what and where to correct) in the submitted invoice.
With a LEDES Error Code standard, the source of errors can be quickly identified as the message and codes will be uniform across all systems. Further, the LEDES API proposed standard will utilize these Standard Error Codes as part of the API information exchange.
This project will take the form of 3 phases and this is Phase 1 (basic errors). Phase 2 will endeavor to expand to cover the more intricate tax structures we encounter in today’s billing landscape. Phase 3 will facilitate more advanced errors and client requirements and will endeavor to advise, in addition to inform.
The proposed codes presented here attempt to address the majority of basic errors and issues encountered during invoice submittal.
With the submission of this Phase 1 of the Error Codes, our Subcommittee has a unique opportunity to author an article relative to the implementation and use of the codes in ILTA’s Peer to Peer publication and we would like that article to feature the first vendor legal billing system to incorporate these Error Codes in their system.