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There are a lot of annoyances that come with running your own firm, but for most attorneys, if they were to list their top five pet peeves, unpaid bills would be at or near the top. At the same time, if you were to poll dissatisfied clients, one of their pet peeves would be legal billing.

Clients skip the check for a number of reasons. Some are broke. Some are simply cheap. For many, however, they refuse to pay because they feel that the bill is inflated or otherwise unfair. The easiest way to quell these concerns is with proper billing practices. Here are a few to consider:

Anyone who has ever dealt with a client knows how difficult it can be to actually get paid. You do the work, log the billable hours, and send out the bills. After that … you wait. And wait. If you’re lucky, the funds in your trust account will cover the balance. Otherwise, you’re stuck waiting for the client’s next payday, or the next time they have a babysitter and can stop by the office, or [insert excuse here].

Google’s newest Gmail feature, which integrates the oft-ignored Google Wallet payment service, could greatly simplify things — if your clients are at least moderately tech-savvy (and use Gmail). At yesterday’s Google I/O 2013 Conference, the search-turned-everything provider announced that Gmail users can now attach money to outgoing emails, the same way they’d attach a photo or document.

Two months ago, we asked a not-so-simple question: Should you accept bitcoin for your services? The answer, for at least two firms, was a resounding yes.

Two firms, a Houston DUI and drug defense firm and an Illinois and New Mexico small business law firm, recently announced that they will accept Bitcoin for services. While the move may pay dividends in the short-term as a publicity stunt (they got our attention, after all), we can't help questioning the wisdom of the move long-term.

It's probably a fair assessment to say that most people are on monthly plans with one of the Big Three carriers. Because of device subsidies and limited competition, the rates for postpaid plans seem to always be increasing. If you are looking to cut costs, the cell phone bill might be a good place to start.

Take a look at your monthly bill. How much are you paying? We tried to find the cheapest reasonable plan (at least 450 minutes, at least 1 GB of data, some texting plan) on each carrier. If your cell phone is your primary work phone, you'll probably need even more minutes.

Most clients, like most lawyers, are good people, so in your career you hopefully won't have many issues with clients not paying. The few times it does happen are quite enough.

Those fees are, of course, how you make your living, which means you need to find a way to get "deadbeat" clients to pay up. Even if you're lucky enough that you can let the fee go and not feel the pinch on your wallet, it still hurts your pride to let someone cheat you and walk away.

We've talked before about reasonable ways to recoup your unpaid fees. But we recently came across one method that's a bit more drastic.

Money is always an issue for clients. For those who don't have a lot, a defense fund may be a way to deal with the ever-present problem of costs.

Case in point: Accused murderer George Zimmerman, who made headlines this week when The Miami Herald suggested he was "selling autographs" to pay for his defense. Zimmerman's lawyer clarified that the autographs were actually just hand-written thank-you notes.

If you have clients like George Zimmerman who need your services but can't foot the bill, you may also want to consider some unorthodox ways to raise cash. Here are three strategies that may work:

Earning CLE credits if often at the bottom of lawyer's to do list, somewhere below 'get dry cleaning done.' Part of the problem is lack of time but there's also the lack of interesting and informative opportunities.

Or is there?

It's no secret that there are a lot of substandard CLE courses out there. Many attorneys rely on the free CLE courses and unfortunately you often get what you pay for. But are the paid courses worth the price?

Retirement isn't something that's usually on the minds of most sole practitioners. Well, not for a while anyway. They're usually wrapped up with trying to grow their firm. However, even a single-lawyer operation needs to think about retirement. And for them, a solo 401(k) might be their best bet.

Also known as an individual 401(k), a solo 401(k) is a special retirement plan designed for businesses that have few or no employees. It's not actually a new program. Rather, a solo 401(k) has the same rules and requirements as traditional individual 401(k) plans. The differences came in 2002, when an amendment in tax laws created certain benefits for small and solo business owners.

So what kind of benefits does a solo 401(k) plan offer over traditional retirement options?

Running your own law firm can be a financial drain. You've got to shell out for malpractice and health insurance; pay rent and overhead; and keep up with a salary or two. And then you've got the clients who want you to reduce your bill.

It's a lot to think about and everyone has their own suggestions for reducing costs. But there's really only one option that can improve everyone's bottom line: free legal research. If this sounds like a good idea, the following three free sites are where you should start.

Every personal injury lawyer has encountered at least one client in need of a lawsuit cash advance. Clients have medical bills, college tuition payments and need to eat. But are the terms of those advances legally enforceable?

Justice Ellen Spodek of Brooklyn is set to make that determination in the coming weeks. She's hauled third-party lender LawBuck$ into court to defend $4,000 in loans made to police brutality victim Joseph Gill.

The $4,000 has grown to $116,000 in the five years since he obtained the cash advance.