But, why do we continue to fall in to those same idiotic rules? Sadly we’re stuck in this hellhole called the billable hour, which is about the least accurate way possible to measure the value received by the client. We’re not making sprockets here folks, we’re using our minds, and that’s not measurable by time.

Those who are honest are screwed.

Those who find themselves moving from matter to matter, sometimes able to stop for only a few moments at each matter, find themselves with hours of unbillable time (and are screwed).

Those who manage to bill a bunch of time to the first client who asked for something, and then bill a fraction of that going forward to each of the subsequent clients who need the same thing, since the first client paid for the work that can be re-used, are screwed. (And, so is the first client!)

Those who stare aimlessly at the monitor for hours on end, hoping for inspiration but letting the clock run, are committing fraud.

Those who feel it’s justified to determine a measure of value and then work out the hours needed to get to that amount are committing fraud.

Remember — Those who commit fraud in my examples aren’t doing so because the client isn’t being asked to pay a fair price for the value received — They commit fraud because they try to make something fair without going back to restrike the bargain that was struck with the client — To bill for hours actually worked with no allowance for downtime or anything else.

I’d hate to think that we as a profession can’t do something better than the same old same same. We’ve failed miserably, and I suspect largely because most of those who are succeeding in the profession are willing to commit billing fraud (and there’s no incentive to catch them).

I am not sure what clients do in the US, but Im in The Bahamas and the legal business is slightly more flexible. I would advise clients to use common sense and to exercise caution with the like of any professional who does not exercise fixed rates. Get an idea on how much time the lawyer will take on a legal matter. Compare rates with other attorneys if you can. Or find an attorney that will agree to a set fee for services.

Lawyer – client agreement are no different than other professional services. I can not agree with the State Bar..

Many years ago we observed a law firm in California that had set up a computer generated report which tracked the daily billings of each attorney. The report showed how many days during each month and year individual attorneys billed 10+, 15+, 20+, even 24+ hours on a given day. The managing partner thought it was a good tool to keep track of productivity.

A quick look at the report clearly showed that some attorneys were simply billing far too much. One junior partner had 25 or so days in which he’d billed more than 24 hours, as much as 40+ hours one day. The total was well over 4,000 for that year for the one fellow.

Somehow, the report’s page for “junior partner” with the astronomical hours found its way to a major client, which promptly audited the firm’s billings and demanded copies of the report for every attorney working on that client’s business.

The law firm lost that million-dollar client, and thence began a slide to failure and dissolution.

Clients can stop this attorney over-billing if they choose, but it takes some gumption and determination.

Dave

However, neither is there an excuse for any law firm to pay their “contract attorneys” $35.00 per hour but turn around and bill the client 7x that amount. And, it does not matter that law firms “have to make a profit”. If they cannot make a reasonable profit with the usual mark-up of 3x the salary, they are mis-managed. And, if the “contract attorney’s” REAL worth to the client is $210-$240 per hour, then the “contract attorney” should receive, as his or her pay $70-$80 per hour. The fact that the law firms choose to “hire” the “contract attorneys” through an “agency” is beside the point. That is how the law firms have chosen to organize their business … they don’t have to use outside agencies to do their hiring for them. And, if they do, the cost of using those outside agencies must come from the law firms’ profit pool, not out of the “contract attorneys’” wages.

Having said that, I think contract attorneys do have an ethical obligation to try to bill as accurately as possible. What this contract attorney did was blatantly egregious…however, I don’t think they needed to resort to suing the contract attorney. Like you said blogger, it’s major hypocrisy…Firms, associates, partners – they all overbill. Who’s watching them, and keeping them accountable?

In my opinion, I think it’s about time that contract attorneys get paid more. The pay has been stagnant for too long, as JDWired mentioned. The people who are pocketing the most from contract attorneys are the firms and the agencies. I think there’s a serious imbalance there. Is there any way to get rid of the middlemen?? Or, is that impossible?