Litigation over the fees being charged by some attorneys has reached levels never seen in the past. With the cost of litigation being what it is today the amount of money at stake can be very high. There are those that are experts in understanding the fees charged by attorneys.
An attorney fee expert is one who can provide both consultation and act as an expert witness in cases where attorney’s fees are in question. The most common area of contention is the reasonableness of the hourly fee charged by the attorney to the client as well as questions about the actual number of hours actually spent on the case.
The attorney fee expert contracts with a client, this can happen either at the conclusion of a case or while the case is ongoing. The objective of the expert is to determine on behalf of the client whether the legal fees that have been charged or are being charged are fair.
The experts review every bill given to the client by the attorney, the reviewer determines if the time that has been billed is necessary and if the time is reasonable; he does this by applying standards that are relevant to the law in question. It is not only the cost of the attorney’s time, there are many other factors that are relevant in determining the legal bill; the expert questions all of these. There is much inefficiency in a law firm and due to ignorance on the part of the client the firm can and does bill for their inefficiencies. Although these practices are common they are not considered to be fair and equitable. If a normal business was to charge their customers for the day to day costs of running their business they would not remain in business for long, many law firms however manage to do this.
An attorney fee expert knows the rules that constitute fairness and the ethical business nature of legal fees; however, it is not an easy task to enforce them. Most people, including in-house legal counsel have little or limited experience in the fees charged by outside attorneys. It is the attorney fee experts that do; they can work with clients, ensuring them that their legal counsel follows certain principals in doing business.
A legal fee expert is committed to working with clients, helping them avoid unfair billing practices by enforcing legal fee guidelines that are all based on best practice as well as serving as an expert witness when the dispute ends up in court for resolution.
