In-House Counsel - Spring 2010

Clients can expect to be charged for a wide range of disbursements during litigation, from court filing fees to photocopies to travel time. The retainer agreement should address which expenses will be reimbursed and the rate of reimbursement. It should go without saying that the client won’t pick up the tab for personal expenses.

Less obvious is which expenses should be regarded as the law firm’s overhead and absorbed in the hourly billable rate and which expenses should be billed to the client on top of legal fees for services rendered. Toothman argues that clients should not be charged for anything that the law firm pays a flat fee for such as long distance phone calls and access to legal research databas-es, since these services are generally covered in monthly or annual plans.

“If a firm pays a flat fee for something it should not be divided up and charged to each client, it should be included in the hourly rate” Toothman says. In addition he argues that law firms should not be marking up and making a profit off disbursements such as photocopies and faxes.

“There are law firms that make thousands on
photocopying charging a quarter per copy when
the actual cost is a nickel,” Toothman says. He has
also seen firms charge clients “a dollar per page per
fax when it hasn’t cost that much to send a fax for
25 years.”
Travel time is another tricky area for retainer
agreements to address.

Ross muses, “I reviewed one legal bill in which a lawyer under the heading ‘ground transportation’ charged a client for a new pair of running shoes.” END

Pricey snack

A white shoe New York
City law firm drew
flack years ago from
The American
Lawyer magazine
for allegedly
charging one
client $33.80
for coffee and
a Danish.

Suzana Popovic-Montag
Appointed Managing Partner
of
Hull & Hull LLP

Hull & Hull LLP is pleased to announce Suzana Popovic-Montag’s appointment as Managing Partner of the ;rm.

Suzana practices exclusively in the areas of estates, trusts, capacity and ;duciary litigation and recently completed her term as Chair of the Trusts and Estates Section Executive of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA).

As Managing Partner, Suzana is responsible for overseeing the management of a ;rm widely recognized as a regional and national leader in trust and estate litigation, mediation and estate planning.