Robert L. Alpert
President
rla@icalmgroup.com

David B. Zoffer
Executive
Vice President
dbz@icalmgroup.com
  Tips to Enhance Communication and
  Ease Review of Legal Bills

Claims and Litigation Questionnaire
Tips to enhance communication
and Ease Review of Legal Bills

Corporate counsel and others who retain outside counsel for litigated matters have varying resources, requirements and business objectives. However, the common thread in all successful litigation management programs is good communication. Although a comprehensive review of methods, systems and procedures is required in order to tailor a litigation management program to specific needs, you can begin the process by reviewing the following checklists of helpful suggestions.

Ten Essential Steps For Successful and Cost-Effective Litigation Management
  1. Institute comprehensive procedures to investigate both liability and damages as promptly as possible after the occurrence, concentrating maximum resources on those claims exhibiting serious exposure.
  2. Pre-select and continuously revise a list of law firms and specific lawyers in those jurisdictions where litigation is likely to occur, from the standpoint of competence, areas of expertise, efficiency and record of success.
  3. Implement a comprehensive litigation methodology, to include (a) the preparation, regular update, and distribution to law firms of comprehensive and workable litigation guidelines and billing procedures, and (b) periodic reviews of law firm statements, procedures and results.
  4. Outline claim status and case specific litigation expectations carefully in letters of assignment to counsel, highlighting any limitation on activity or authority.
  5. Create practical procedures for counsel that will allow prompt reporting of suit progress, including significant developments, without incurring unnecessary costs or an inordinate flow of paper.
  6. Build an internal claim data base and tracking system that will allow claims personnel to be current, claim department management to monitor litigation expense relative to the severity of a claim, and underwriters and assureds to identify loss characteristics and expenses accurately.
  7. Develop procedures and systems to eliminate redundant projects and duplication of pleadings, motions, briefs, reporting, and research.
  8. Formulate methods to expedite the litigation process according to type of accounts generating claim activity, jurisdictional anomalies and internal resources.
  9. Isolate the claims and litigation that will be subject to uniform handling procedures from those that will be managed individually.
  10. Initiate a program of continuing professional development for all claims and legal personnel that will enhance experience, knowledge and motivation.
Cost-Effective Communication
  1. When more than one lawyer can be expected to work on your matters, consider including your guidelines with each assignment. Do not rely on one meeting or one letter to convey general guidelines to outside counsel unless you have obtained written assurances from the responsible partner that prior to working on your matters each timekeeper will review and adhere to your guidelines.
  2. Upon assignment of defense, discuss with counsel your expectations concerning the form, content and frequency of reporting, emphasizing timeliness, brevity and consistency.
  3. When a carbon copy of correspondence (or blind carbon copy) will adequately inform you of a particular event or development, counsel should avoid the use of separate and essentially redundant correspondence.
  4. Activities that may be required by a law firm's internal administrative practices (such as "all correspondence must go out with the signature of the responsible partner") should not be permitted to increase the cost of communication.
  5. Rather than having counsel dictate (and bill for) transmittal letters to accompany your receipt of routine or self-explanatory documents, consider the use of speed memos, or forms that can be used by the firm's clerical personnel.
  6. Standardized status reports (one page) will take less time to prepare and to read. Among other data, it should include elements that describe what has transpired to date, probable liability exposure, what remains to be done, to what extent the budget may have been altered and a projected chronology to conclusion.
  7. Where the nature of particular litigation requires correspondence of some length, consider requiring all counsel to adhere to the same basic format, similar to that used in the standardized status report, but preceded by a one page executive summary that highlights significant developments and provides a concise assessment (i.e., does it help or hurt) with recommendations.
  8. The usefulness of a deposition summary is inversely proportional to its length. In other words, the longer they are, the less useful they will be. It is the rare deposition report, highlighting only significant points, that will require more than two pages.
  9. To assure the timely receipt of status reports at intervals that do not exceed billing intervals, consider advising counsel that no bill will be paid if it is not accompanied by your standardized report form.
Reviewing Legal Bills: An Incomplete List of What to
Look for and What to Ask
  1. Does each entry identify the date service was rendered, the individual who rendered the service, the individual's hourly rate and position (partner, associate, paralegal, etc.) an understandable description of the particular service rendered, the amount of time (expressed in tenths of an hour) and the corresponding dollar charge for that time?
  2. Do descriptions of service list each task separately? If several activities by one timekeeper on one date are combined in a single entry (example: "prepare for, travel to, attend and summarize deposition" 5.3 hours) it will be difficult to evaluate whether or not the time for each task is appropriate.
  3. Do descriptions of service describe with particularity the activity in which the timekeeper was engaged or are they vague and imprecise, such as "attention to discovery"?
  4. Are the descriptions of service consistent? Is the same activity described in more than one way, depending upon the date or the timekeeper (example: "draft motion to compel plaintiff's production of construction records;" "work on construction records issue")?
  5. Do the descriptions of service include initials, abbreviations, names or case issues with which you are not familiar (example: "meeting with GJT re indemnification")?
  6. Do the descriptions of service refer to activities you did not authorize (example: "review report of defendant's psychiatric expert" when you did not authorize retention of the expert)?
  7. Do the descriptions of service refer to motions made without your prior approval?
  8. Do the descriptions of service refer to activities that are unnecessary or premature (example: preparing page and line summaries of depositions when settlement is likely and no trial date has been set)?
  9. Are there frequent intraoffice conferences among two or more timekeepers, each of whom has billed for the time?
  10. Have two or more timekeepers billed for attending the same deposition or proceeding?
  11. Does the bill contain a sub-total (hours and dollars) for each timekeeper?
  12. Is the total number of timekeepers consistent with the size of the case (for example: it is the unusually large and complex case that will require five or more timekeepers)?
  13. Are all of the timekeepers listed in the current bill the same as the timekeepers listed in the last bill? If some names no longer appear or others appear for the first time, why has staffing changed?
  14. Are work assignments among timekeepers assigned in such a way that there is overlap or redundancy (for example: two issues to be researched, each of which requires review of the same file or records)?
  15. Do descriptions of services include tasks that you or someone in your office has done or could do in this case?
  16. Are the hourly rates of each timekeeper listed in the current bill the same hourly rates that appeared in the last bill? If rates are higher, was there an advance written request for and written approval of the increase?
  17. Are the hourly rates of each timekeeper consistent with the individual's experience, position and expertise?
  18. Are the tasks appropriate to the experience, position and expertise of the timekeeper (example: document summaries prepared by partners vs. paralegals)?
  19. Is the amount of time billed for each timekeeper category (partner, associate, paralegal) disproportionate to the complexity or magnitude of the case?
  20. Do disbursements include charges for word processing or secretarial/clerical time?
  21. Are disbursements sub-totaled by category (Westlaw, Lexis, messengers, photocopies, interpreters, etc.)?
  22. Is the rate and basis of each disbursement reported (example: 869 copies @.10 each = $86.90)?
  23. Are the services and disbursements of outside vendors consistent with your guidelines?
  24. Are any disbursements billed at greater than actual cost?
  25. If allocation of time or disbursements is appropriate (among multiple parties or multiple files) is the amount reported the correct proportionate share?
 
   
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