Reviewing and Challenging an Attorney Bill
You have probably gathered by now that lawyers are not always ethical. There are instances where attorneys over bill their clients, bill more time than necessary to perform a certain task, or double bill by having both an associate and a partner perform the work in order to use the case to train the associate. Other times they will have two attorneys show up for a hearing when only one competent attorney is necessary. This is most prevalent with large law firms whose attorneys have a mandatory number of hours they must bill in order to get a bonus and/or keep their jobs. This is also more common in a business/ corporate case, where a business rather than a person is paying the bill (hence, typically not scrutinizing the invoice as much), or when the law firm was hired because a lawyer is friends with a corporate officer, rather than for his or her skills: “I was able to secure my company’s legal business for you good ole boy Bob, but don’t forget I’m expecting a little something in return.”
Legal bills are a valuable source of information about what your attorney is doing and when. You should always promptly review your legal invoice and discuss any confusion or concerns immediately with your attorney.
How to Know if an Attorney is Overcharging My Company
Often, clients are apprehensive about questioning their attorney’s invoice because they want their attorney “on their side” and don't feel that questioning the attorney is appropriate or will go well. McNamara Legal offers corporations and small businesses a service whereby their attorney’s invoice is reviewed in detail for reasonableness, and compared with the work actually performed on the file and the court orders entered in the case. The time spent on each task (taking the outcome into consideration) is reviewed for necessity, double-billing, and allowed expenses. The findings are then discussed with the client. McNamara Legal has literally saved business clients hundreds of thousands of dollars by performing these reviews and negotiating a reasonable Invoice and settlement with the former/current law firm. Do Not wait until the case is over to question or argue any legal invoice. At that point you will likely be deemed to have consented to the bills since you did not raise any objection previously. You should be receiving and reviewing your attorney bills on a regular basis. If you have concerns about your attorney's fees, call McNamara Legal today. McNamara Legal also offers these services to high net worth divorce clients on a limited basis.
Attorney Bill Audit Service Chicago Illinois
McNamara Legal can also quietly monitor your corporate attorney invoice and also help you draft a letter to your attorney confidentially for you to send regarding the Invoice and the issues you have with it to ensure the best and appropriate resolution. If no resolution can be had, McNamara Legal will step in and go to court to defend against an unreasonable and inappropriate law firm Invoice.
Under certain circumstances, McNamara Legal will perform these services on a contingency fee basis.
