Disbursements

The client is responsible for all disbursements. Where disbursements are incurred, the related supplier invoice should be sent directly to disbursements@keystonelaw.co.uk and these will be added to the Client Ledger on provision of the relevant client/matter number. If the bill for the disbursement is sent only to you, then you must forward it without delay to disbursements@keystonelaw.co.uk advising which client/matter number it should be posted to. All disbursements should be invoiced to the client on a timely basis, either as part of your next fee invoice or by submitting a disbursement only invoice to the client. Once disbursement exposure (net of any sums held in Client Account to cover the same) reaches £2,500 on any matter, you should invoice all disbursements by no later than the end of the following month in which the disbursement exposure exceeded £2,500. If you are holding client funds to cover the disbursement, then please ensure these are applied to the invoice during the billing process. Any outstanding disbursements on a matter should be settled before any Fee Note is settled on it.

There are three ways in which you may incur a disbursement for a client:

Instruct a third party (e.g. counsel or an expert witness) in the name of Keystone acting as the client's agent. Either you will need funds on Client Account, or you can use the Office Account subject to financial limits as set out under our Disbursement Guarantee. Third-party invoices should be directed to Central Office. Upon receipt, such invoices will be uploaded to Keyed-In and scanned to the relevant lawyer(s).
Use a third-party service provider (e.g. Companies House or Land Registry) with whom Keystone maintains an account. You should ensure that you enter the client/matter reference when doing so in the field provided, so that the Accounts Team can accurately allocate the disbursement. When preparing our next Invoice, you should include that, and any other, disbursement.
Pay for the disbursement out of your own pocket. It is recommended that you only use this method for incidental expenses, such as train fares, or when methods 1 and 2 above are unfeasible. Where you have incurred disbursements in this way, these can be added to the invoice to the client using the normal invoice builder process in Keyed-In in the section disbursements incurred by lawyers'. Your Fee Note will then include these disbursements which will be paid to you once the client has paid the disbursement element of the related Invoice. You will need to retain all receipts for these disbursements for your own accounting records.

When incurring disbursements, you should note the following:

should not be incurred before there is a client matter set up on Keyed-In.
Avoid incurring exposure for the firm; comply with the limits and follow the guidance set out in the section below entitled Disbursement Guarantee.
Most suppliers send their invoices directly to the Accounts Team. Where you prefer, you can elect to settle a disbursement yourself and accordingly the client will not be charged. To do so, when using a third-party service provider, then just omit/ask the supplier to omit the client/matter number. Otherwise let the Accounts Team know and they will then add the item to your "unallocated disbursements" account. These can be viewed through Tracker; just select the client "UAD1" and then select your name from the drop-down list in the matter box. You will need to settle these amounts.
As per our Terms of Engagement, you should not incur an expense in excess of £300 without client authorisation (such authority to be recorded on the relevant file).
Mileage (from Central Office) is chargeable at the rate of £0.45 per mile. Travel expenses are chargeable to the client at cost. (These are subject to VAT again on top of the cost).

Hint: In order to save you paying for disbursements out of your own pocket, ask the Administration Team to open a Keystone account with a third-party service provider which you anticipate using on a regular basis.