Top Ten Law Firm Billing Mistakes that Clients Hate
I heard this Top Ten list of billing grievances at the Marketing Partner Forum program, “General Counsel Roundtable.” It’s from Ivan K. Fong, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Cardinal Health, Inc. in Dublin, OH, (and nominee as Homeland Security General Counsel).
10. Who is the new guy on the bill and why is he spending my money?
9. What is this 20 page memo I’ve never seen?
8. Why am I paying for another client’s work – it’s a mistake that the law firm misbilled.
7. Did anyone add up all the time spent on this motion?
6. What exactly is this attorney doing, there is no specific description of the lawyer’s activity.
5. Did anyone bother to read our outside counsel policy? E.g., how much we’ll pay for travel, copying, secretarial services, etc.
4. Did anyone proofread this bill?
3. What does it mean to “analyze” or “strategize” or “attend to” a motion for 2 hours? What did you really do?
2. How did we get so off budget? – This is a grievance that you can solve by communicating.
1. One of our lawyers is a woman, Ms. Mayer, and she gets a number of bills addressed to “Mister Mayer.” You should know how to spell the names of your clients.
Ouch, the Mr./Ms. gaff is a tough one to recover from.