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Ethics of Time-Based Billing by Attorneys | |
The following sources are recommended by a professor whose research specialty is the ethics of practicing law. |
· William G. Ross, The Honest Hour: The Ethics of Time-Based Billing by Attorneys. Carolina Academic Press (1996).
· Lisa G. Lerman, "Blue Chip Bilking: Regulation of Billing and Expense Fraud by Lawyers," 12 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 205 (1999).
· Adam C. Altman, "To Bill, or Not to Bill? Lawyers Who Wear Watches Almost Always Do, Although Ethical Lawyers Actually Think About It First," 11 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 203 (1998).
· Lee A. Watson, "Communication, Honesty, and Contract: Three Buzzwords for Maintaining Ethical Hourly Billing," 11 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 189 (1998).
· Sonia Chan, "ABA Formal Opinion 93-379: Double Billing, Padding and Other Forms of Overbilling," 9 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 611 (1996).
· Douglas R. Richmond, "Professional Responsibility and the Bottom Line: The Ethics of Billing," 20 S. Ill. L. J. 261 (1996).
· Ronald D. Rotunda, "Moving from Billable Hours to Fixed Fees: Task-Based Fees and Legal Ethics," 47 U. Kan. L. Rev. 819 (1999). This goes beyond the issue of hourly billing, but it is still quite relevant to hourly billing.
· Lisa G. Lerman, "Scenes from a Law Firm," 50 Rutgers L. Rev. 2153 (1998).
· William G. Ross, "Kicking the Unethical Billing Habit," 50 Rutgers L. Rev. 2199 (1998).
· James P. Schratz, "I Told You to Fire Nicholas Farber -- A Psychological and Sociological Analysis of Why Attorneys Overbill," 50 Rutgers L. Rev. 2211 (1998).
· Lisa G. Lerman, "Lying to Clients," 138 U.Pa. L. Rev. 659 (1990). This article concerns many subjects other than billing fraud.
· John W. Toothman, Real Reform, 81 ABA J. 80 (1995). This award-winning essay calls for the replacement of time-based billing.
· Lisa G. Lerman, "Gross Profits? Questions about Lawyer Billing Practices," 22 Hofstra L. Rev. 645 (1994).
· William G. Ross, "The Ethics of Hourly Billing by Attorneys," 44 Rutgers L. Rev. 1 (1991).
· Darelene Ricker, "Greed, Ignorance, and Overbilling: Some Lawyers Have Given New Meaning to the Term 'Legal Fiction,'" 80 ABA J. 62 (1994).
-- NOTE: You also might be interested in the burgeoning literature on a highly controversial current topic, state ethics opinions that restrict the use of outside auditors and billing guidelines, addressed by the following sources:
· William G. Ross, "An Ironic and Unnecessary Controversy: Ethical Restrictions on Billing Guidelines and Submission of Insurance Defense Bills to Outside Auditors," 14 Notre Dame J. of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy 527 (2000).
· Elaynne B. Cothran, "Can Carriers Legitimately Evaluate Independent Counsel Fees without Impeding Counsel's Independent Legal Judgment?" 29 SPG Brief 38 (2000).
· Douglas R. Richmond, "Of Legal Audits and Legal Ethics," 65 Def. Couns. J. 512 (1998).
· Andrew G. Cooley, "Fee Audits: Coming Full Circle and Looking down the Road," For the Defense, June 1999, at 53.
· David R. Anderson, "The Attorney-Client Privilege and Outside Auditors: Oil and Water?," For the Defense, June 1999, at 22.
· Kent D. Syverud, "The Ethics of Insurer Litigation Management Guidelines and Legal Audits," Ins. Def. Rptr., May 1, 1999, at 180.
· Ronald E. Mallen, "Guidelines or Landmines? Preserving the Tripartite Relationship," For the Defense, June 1998, at 9.
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