Timesheets and Traps - Ethics in Billing and Collecting Fees
May 2009
Timesheets and Traps - Ethics in Billing and Collecting Fees
Program Description
Attorneys are required by the rules of professional responsibility to adhere to client objectives in a representation, including cost containment and efficiency, and to keep clients reasonably apprised of progress in the case, including the accumulation of billable hours and other expenses. Increased competition in the legal marketplace, rising associate salaries, client cost-cutting, and other pressures are throwing new light on attorney ethical obligations in billing and collecting fees. This program will review the rules applicable to billing practices and common areas of ethical liability, and discuss best practices for lawyers and law firms to avoid liability.
Topics
- Law firm economics and pressure points
- Vague time sheet descriptions
- Double-billing
- Internal firm conferences
- Duplication of efforts, inefficient staffing, transient billers
- Cost recovery issues
- Best practices for avoiding liability
Faculty
Douglas Richmond is Senior Vice President in the Professional Services Group of AON Risk Services, the world's largest broker of lawyers' professional liability insurance, where he consults with Aon's law firm clients on professional responsibility and liability issues. Before joining Aon in Chicago, Mr. Richmond was a partner with Armstrong Teasdale LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had a national trial and appellate practice. In 1998, he was named the nation's top defense lawyer in an insurance industry poll as reported in the publications Inside Litigation and Of Counsel. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. He has published roughly 50 articles in university law reviews, and many more articles in other scholarly and professional journals. Mr. Richmond teaches Legal Ethics at the Northwestern University School of Law and he is a regular National Institute of Trial Advocacy faculty member. Mr. Richmond received his B.S. from Fort Hays State University., his M. Ed. from the University of Nebraska, and his J.D. from the University of Kansas.
Registration Fees
| $99.00 | |
| CBA | $79.00 |
- General Credits: 1.00
- Ethics Credits: 1.00
- EDI Credits:
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