Posted by Anthony J. Fejfar BA, JD, MBA, Phd on 1/10/12

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In many law firms there is a seemingly unreasonably high
billable hour requirement. At the same time, there is an
American Bar Association Ethics Opinion that it is a serious
ethics violation to double bill time, that is, to charge
time to two different clients for the same time period. At
least one Federal Case has been brought charging a lawyer
with the federal crime of Mail Fraud which carries carries a
sentence of 2 years in federal prison, and probable
disbarment. Most attorneys don;t like working late at the
office, particularly when it is hard to get a good meal at
the dinner hour. Also, there is the issue of not getting
mugged when you have to walk from the office to a parking
lot late at night. The solution that I suggest regarding
the above is to add two new billing categories to the firm
billing time sheet, which are:
"reflection on legal issues"
"reflection on factual issues"
Given the foregoing, an attorney can reasonably leave the
office at 4 or 5 o'clock to miss the brunt of rush hour
traffic, and then go home and have dinner and spend time
with your spouse and kids (if available), and then go to
your home study (office) and pull out the legal files that
you have taken home, put on a little music, and sit down in
a comfortable recliner or office chair, and look at the file
and then engage in reflection on legal issues, or reflection
on factual issues, and the process, legitimately bill 2 or 3
hours of time in the evening at home, in a relaxing
atmosphere. Thus, the attorney finds a relatively enjoyable
way of billing time and meeting his or her billable hour
requirement, ethically.

www.neothomism.com

Law and Jurisprudence- Law Firm Managment, 1/10/12, by Anthony J. Fejfar BA, JD, MBA, Phd.

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