Legal Bill Audit Blog

Before approaching a lawyer to discuss concerns about the legal bill, a client has to first know exactly what it is being objected to and why. Is it the total amount of the bill being objected to? Is it that certain billed for work does not seem appropriate? Is it that certain billed for costs do...

The ethics of the legal profession requires lawyers to inform their clients “at the outset of the representation” just how they intend to bill for fees and costs and, just as importantly, the basis or how those fees and other charges are going to be determined.  See American Bar Assoc. (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct...

Getting involved in a billing dispute with a lawyer can be a long and drawn out process. And you legitimately may be wonder if you ask your lawyer questions about his legal bill or get into a prolonged discussion with him about his charges if you will not just be digging yourself into an even deeper financial...

Here’ something very important to know about resolving legal bill disputes that maybe your lawyer does know. In any dispute over a legal bill with a client, the ethics of the legal profession as well as “black letter” law very clearly provide that the “burden of proof” is squarely on the attorney.  See Restatement (Third)...

Finding good as well as economical attorneys can be difficult, but certainly not impossible. You may think that the term “good, economical attorney” is an oxymoron.  But in my legal bill review work for corporations, I very often see examples of economical attorney who get good results.  When I do, I always take the time to...

One influential legal commentator called it the legal profession’s “not so hidden shame.”[1] An American Bar Association president called it the intersection of “many of the profession’s contemporary woes.”[2]  And the ABA’s Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility termed it a “major contributory factor to the discouraging public opinion of the legal profession.”[3]  The...