Mass tort
AI accounting for mass tort firms
Early accesssuss. is AI accounting software for mass tort law firms. It keeps a ledger for every claimant in an inventory, applies each allocation against that ledger with the fee, the common benefit assessment the court ordered, case-specific costs, liens and any holdback, and turns a settlement tranche into claimant-by-claimant statements an attorney approves in batches. Money arriving from a qualified settlement fund is matched to the claimants it belongs to, the trust account is reconciled every day, and every step is written to a close record. Mass tort is in early access with a founding cohort of firms.
Join the mass tort cohortWhere mass tort accounting breaks, and what changes
An allocation becomes a batch of statements, not a spreadsheet.
When the special master or claims administrator releases allocations, suss. applies each award to its claimant's ledger: the fee under that client's agreement, the common benefit assessment the court ordered, case-specific costs, liens and holdbacks, down to the net. Attorneys review statements in batches and approve them together.
Common benefit holdbacks follow the court's order.
MDL courts set a holdback, often a percentage of the gross recovery, and some split it between the fee and the client's share. suss. applies the order as written to every claimant it covers, records the amount withheld, and keeps it traceable if the court later changes the final assessment.
Liens stay with the claimant until they release.
Medicare, Medicaid, private health plan and provider liens resolved by a lien resolution administrator stay attached to the claimant as held amounts, so the final payment uses the resolved figure and the ledger shows when and why it changed.
One claimant in a tranche
A tranche of awards is released from the qualified settlement fund. For each claimant, suss. builds the statement from the claimant's own ledger. Here is one of them.
| Gross award | 85,000.00 |
| Attorney fee, 40% under the client's agreement | (34,000.00) |
| Common benefit assessment, 6% of gross under the court's order | (5,100.00) |
| Case-specific costs: records and filing | (1,240.18) |
| Lien holdback, pending the lien resolution administrator | (3,915.00) |
| Net to claimant now | 40,744.82 |
This example is illustrative: whether the common benefit assessment comes out of the fee, the client's share or both depends on the court's order and the client's agreement, and suss. applies the terms the firm sets. When the lien resolves for less than the holdback, the difference is released to the claimant and recorded against the same ledger.
How a mass tort firm uses suss.
Each morning the settlement team sees what needs a person: claimants whose lien figures changed overnight, statements ready for review in the current tranche, and payments from the settlement fund matched to the claimants they belong to. The matching and the daily three-way reconciliation are already recorded.
When a tranche is ready to pay, the attorney reviews the batch of statements built from each claimant's ledger and approves them together. A named signatory approves the payments on their own device.
When a claimant, co-counsel or an auditor asks about one client, the ledger shows every amount allocated, held, released and paid, with dates and the person who approved each step.
Guides for mass tort firms
- How qualified settlement funds work in mass tort settlementsWhat makes a fund a QSF, who runs it, how common benefit holdbacks and liens come out, and what it means for the firm's trust account.
- Ten trust accounting mistakes that lead to bar audits and disciplineThe routine errors behind most trust account findings, what each one looks like on the books, and the control that prevents it.
- How to do a three-way trust account reconciliationThe three balances, the steps, how often your state requires it, and what to do when the numbers do not agree.
What you keep
Your case management system, your bank, your claims administrator, your lien resolution administrator, your approvals and your accountant. suss. works alongside all of them.
FAQ
Does suss. replace our lien resolution administrator or claims administrator?
No. Those administrators resolve liens and run the claims process. suss. keeps the firm's own accounting record of what they report, claimant by claimant, so the trust account and each client's statement stay correct.
How does suss. handle common benefit assessments?
The firm enters the terms of the court's common benefit or holdback order, including the percentage and how it is shared between the fee and the client's recovery. suss. applies those terms to every covered claimant and records the amount withheld, so a later change to the final assessment can be traced claimant by claimant.
Is money in a qualified settlement fund in our trust account?
No. A qualified settlement fund is a separate fund, usually established by court order and run by an administrator. Money moves into the firm's trust account, or straight to claimants, when the fund distributes it. suss. records those distributions against each claimant's ledger when they arrive.
Can suss. handle a large inventory?
suss. keeps one ledger per claimant and builds statements in batches, so the work scales with the inventory rather than with the number of people re-keying it. Mass tort is in early access; tell us your inventory size when you schedule a demo.
Does suss. move money?
Not today. suss. connects to bank accounts read-only. It prepares and records disbursements, and a named person at the firm approves and executes them. Write-back is a switch the firm turns on, behind the same approval gate.
Is suss. compliant with our state bar's trust accounting rules?
suss. runs the trust accounting checks the selected state bar rules require and keeps the required records. The firm remains responsible for its compliance; suss. makes the record.