OT: Hey, lawyers

[terif831]

Lawyers and plumbers are really similar occupations. There are times when each is paid to wade through someone else's crap.

I am a paralegal, and I heartily agree with this.

I do a lot of personal injury and med mal work. If you think lawyers are bad, you should see what the doctors of injured parties charge for providing their records, testifying for their patients, etc. An orthopedic physician routinely charges hundreds of dollars for a 1-page report stating their opinion about whether or not their patient has a permanent disability arising from the car accident, or slip and fall, or whatever. And it's thousands to testify, whether in court or at a deposition. Comes out to a lot more per hour than what a lawyer gets.

And, the doctors KNOW they are not bilking the lawyers for this money. These are costs of litigation that are repaid to the lawyer out of his client's settlement - so the doctor's own patient ends up footing the bill.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

'Splain something to me. Suppose an attorney sends a bill for 5 minutes of his time at $600 per hour and that 5 minutes includes copying a document and mailing it to the client (which the secretary is going to do, anyway). The bills I see are on tenths of hours so 5 minutes would = .1 hours or $60. Anywho, the lawyer is making $60 bucks for 5 minutes time which is pretty nice money. My question is this - why is it important to bill the client 26 cents for the photocopy and 45 cents for the stamp? This is one of life's great mysteries to me.

As a general matter (and as a general principle of ethics and State Bar rules), bills for the lawyer's time are supposed to be for the time the lawyer was working as a lawyer representing his client. If a secretary is doing the work and it involves secretarial functions, that is not something for which an attorney should be billing.

As an aside, a letter of engagement should specify the rate for copies (and, in some cases, may be negotiated).

Now, if a paralegal (a true certified legal assistant) is making copies as part of exhibits or for a disclosure statement, that is something for which the paralegal can bill her time (though that is at a much lower rate, as compared to the lawyer's rate).

Better yet, for what purpose were the copies made? Was it just to send copies of pleadings, disclosure statements, etc. to the client? Why wasn't the documents scanned and emailed?

 

[HuskyNan]

Nan, first, you're getting cheated out of a minute because you should be getting 6 minutes for .1. Secondly, no one's billing $600/hr today, and if they are, they're going to be pretty surprised if you pay it without complaining and cutting it way down. Nothing ventured nothing gained I guess. Third, why are you picking on lawyers? Are you making this all up?

The rate is what the company I work for pays and those numbers are from an actual bill from an attorney's office.

Re: the above mention of doctors, I was charged 35 cents a page for copies of some medical records to be sent to a consulting specialist. Cost me a tidy sum.

 

[terif831]

The rate is what the company I work for pays and those numbers are from an actual bill from an attorney's office.

Re: the above mention of doctors, I was charged 35 cents a page for copies of some medical records to be sent to a consulting specialist. Cost me a tidy sum.

You got a bargain for your copies. The statutory rate for medical records in Connecticut is 65 cents/page, plus postage. Although now, more and more places will supply records on a CD, which usually cuts the cost considerably.

 

[Wonkster]

This house, where once a lawyer dwelt, is now a smith's. Alas!
How rapidly the iron age succeeds the age of brass.

Erskine

Carl Erskine wrote that? I knew he was a minister, but I never realized the '53 Dodgers had a poet on their payroll.

 

[Bestiarius]

A lawyer hired a plumber to repair a leaky sink in his office. When presented with the bill, the attorney was shocked. "I'm a lawyer and I don't even charge this much". The plumber replied, "When I was a lawyer, I didn't charge that much either."

 

[Capt Tuttle]

Truly spoken like a lawyer!

verus spoken like a true lawyer.

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