In 2020 the LEDES Oversight Committee ratified version 1 of the LEDES Error Codes. Version 1 has been updated and wholly replaced with a new Version 2 of the standard, ratified by the LEDES Board in September, 2024.
Why Error Codes?
These Error Codes are a new type of LEDES standard established to provide a standardized structure to ebilling validation errors, intending to standardize the identification of LEDES file submission errors from system-to-system and client-to-client.
The need for Standardized Error Codes was expressed by many of our law firm members over the years. As we heard, many hours are spent by law firms and corporate legal departments tracking down errors based on non-standard codes that are often-times set forth as an unintelligible error message that gives no indication of what needs to be fixed. In 2020, LEDES VP, Cathi Collins, was appointed to chair the subcommittee, and meetings were held to established a standardized code schema based on feedback from both law firms and vendors. This worked was continued in 2022 as the breadth of the error codes were expanded to include tax errors and additional common errors encountered across client implementations.
The LEDES Error Codes, when adopted and implemented by software vendors, will significantly reduce the time spent by law firm, corporate legal department and vendor personnel, tracking down error codes and rectifying billing errors, accounting for a significant portion of the tasks to be completed by law firms within a billing month.
Documentation
LOC Standardized Error Codes V2 2024-09
Methodology
In this version 2, we have identified 65 unique errors that could apply to any of the fields in the various LEDES billing formats. These are listed on the Error Code Lookup worksheet. [Column A on this worksheet, Error Code Suffix, is the same value in the Error Code Suffix displayed in Column L on the V2 Error Codes worksheet.]
Additionally, we flattened the XML formats so that every field for every segment is listed. These are on the V2 Error Codes worksheet. Every possible extension supported in the original format specification is represented in the flattened layout.
Then we added the ASCII format fields into this flattened structure, grouping fields where they contained the same values in the XML and ASCII formats. For example, the "Description" field in the ASCII formats could associate with the @MATTER_DISC_Cred.description field (if the ASCII line is an IF or IE), or the @FEE.description field (if the ASCII line is an F), or the @EXPENSE.description field (if the ASCII line is an E).
When you look at rows 8 and 9 on the V2 Error Codes worksheet, you will see that both rows contain information on the same field, @FIRM.lf_vendor_id (in XML) and LAW_FIRM_ID (in ASCII). The XML fields appear first, with the corresponding ASCII fields on the next line; the information is ordered similarly throughout this sheet.
- In row 8, you will see that the text is black, indicating it is an XML row. The corresponding fields in columns G and H (representing the ASCII formats 98B and 98BI) are solid black, indicating that these ASCII fields do not apply.
- In row 9, you will see that the text is blue, indicating it is an ASCII row. The corresponding fields in columns D, E and F (representing the three XML formats) are solid blue, indicating that these XML fields do not apply.
After establishing this layout order, we then applied a unique numbering pattern to the like fields in Column K, called the Error Code Prefix, so that all similar fields are grouped together and uniquely identified.
We then correlated each of the unique errors from the Error Code Lookup worksheet to the specific fields/data elements in each LEDES format, creating a separate row for each permutation of the errors. This provides greater efficiency in identifying which specific field is the source of the error and needs to be fixed. As an example, the XML field @FIRM.lf_vendor_ID and the ASCII field LAW_FIRM_ID appear in rows 8 through 21 and are associated with 7 unique error codes across 14 rows.
Each Error Code in column M is the combination of an Error Code Suffix and Error Code Prefix separated by a dash "-". With this construct, the field/data point at issue is identified as well as the error associated with it.
The V2 Error Codes worksheet also includes the following information:
- Error Type, Column B: Whether the error applies to the file or a specific field/data element.
- The Associated Formats, Column C. As indicated above, black color indicates the XML formats and blue color indicates the ASCII formats, and the associated fields are grouped together but listed on separate lines.
- A breakdown by file type, Columns D (XML 2.2x), E (XML 2.1x), F (XML 2.0x), G (98BI) and H (98B). The corresponding flattened field number for each format is indicated in this column. This is not the field number indicated in the format specification document, it is the flattened field number within that format.
- The XML Segment/Subsegment reference is listed in Column I for XML associated data points.
- The Field/Data Element Name appears in column J.
- Column N contains the XML data element and ASCII fields names that associate with each Error Code Prefix in Column K, combining together the XML and ASCII fields for easy reference.
- The Error Name in Column O corresponds to the unique Error Name on the Error Code Lookup worksheet in Column B.
- The Error Message in Column P is a textual name associated with the error code that also identifies whether the error is
- Fatal, and therefore the file is rejected
- A validation error, meaning that this value is checked by the system to determine whether the value provided is valid under the client's rules
- A procedural error, meaning that the value is in violation of a procedure mandated by the client.
- Error Messages that starts with a field reference could mean many different things:
- The value does not match the the client's required value or does not match the format specification requirement (list of required values, a required value is missing, is not unique, or perhaps is not properly formatted)
- It contains a math error
- It does not match a lookup field reference from a segment elsewhere in the file
- It does not meet a specific requirement (bulk billing, prior approval is required, contains phrasing not allowed by client, unapproved rate, etc.)
- Finally, in Column Q, we provide information on how to resolve the error.
The V2 Error Codes worksheet is sorted by Error Code Prefix and then Error Code Suffix.
We have not provided separate sheets by LEDES format type, users can create these themselves.
Expected Future Action
The subcommittee will continue work on capturing additional client validation errors that are less common than these already in this version 2.
How to Get Started
If you work at a law firm, contact your vendors today -- those whose systems create your ebills, as well as the third-party ebilling vendors that receive your ebills -- and request they implement these new LEDES Error Codes ASAP.
Clients should add the corresponding LEDES Error Code number in brackets to the end of their error message text: instead of "Bulk Billing not allowed," the error message will be "Bulk billing not allowed [1012-0053]." The code references the specific field [1012, the time entry description] and the error [53, bulk billing], and the Error Code document identifies what specifically to fix.