Small Law Firms

Unnecessary Court Appearances Are A Cash Cow For Law Firms

It is important to be open about how some attorneys overbill clients so that clients can get the most value out of legal services.

By Jordan Rothman on July 03, 2019 10:01 am

(Image via Shutterstock)

Pretty much everyone knows that some attorneys overbill their clients.  Indeed, it is almost cliché that lawyers “run the clock” at times and bill their clients for legal work that might not be necessary.  However, clients may not completely understand the exact ways that attorneys and law firms might institute policies that have the effect of “running the meter” unnecessarily.  Not to hurt the bottom lines of some firms that might institute such practices, but it is important to be open about how some attorneys overbill clients so that clients can get the most value out of legal services.

One of the most subtle ways that attorneys overbill their clients is with unnecessary court appearances.  Court appearances are one of the easiest ways to generate billable hours for law firms.  Indeed, court appearances usually constitute an entire block of time that is easier to bill than a bunch of different smaller tasks that might comprise fractions of an hour.  In addition, the entire amount of time an attorney is in court, no matter what they are doing, usually counts as billable time.  Moreover, some firms also charge clients for travel time to court, and this increases the amount of billable hours attorneys can squeeze from court appearances.

However, attorneys frequently bill for court appearances when an appearance by an attorney is not necessary.  For instance, many courts, especially New York state courts, require that motion papers be submitted by a given return date.  Oral argument, if any, is typically scheduled for a later time, and this return date appearance is usually administrative.  Nevertheless, many law firms send lawyers to court on the return date even though almost nothing is done at this time.

In some courts, the clerk just calls the name of the case, checks to make sure that all of the papers have been received, and then says something like “fully submitted” during these appearances.  Of course, attorneys usually send papers to court with a service before this date, so the only thing attorneys do at this time is determine if the papers have been fully submitted.

With the advent of electronic filing, some courts do not even accept papers on the return date (although some courts require courtesy copies), and the return date “appearance” is merely precatory and serves as a time when papers are due.  Still, law firms often send attorneys to these appearances, and bill their clients several hours each time.  I’ll admit, there was one time I did need to see a judge at such an appearance, since I needed a stipulation extending time to be “so ordered” by the court.  However, under normal circumstances, there is no earthly reason why attorneys need to be present for administrative return date appearances, and this is just a means for law firms to run the meter on their clients.

At other times, law firms may send multiple attorneys to the same courthouse even though only one attorney is really needed to serve the interests of the clients and the firm.  For instance, in many discovery compliance parts in New York City, the attorneys usually need to simply agree to a stipulation on some discovery matters, sign off on this, and have the court “so order” the stipulation.  One attorney can easily handle multiple matters, and per diem attorneys sometimes handle a half-dozen or more such matters in a given morning.

However, law firms understand that they can bill for each individual attorney they send to a courthouse, even though one attorney can handle multiple matters.  I remember one time, a firm sent four separate attorneys to a discovery part in Brooklyn.  Although it was fun for the attorneys to hang out with colleagues in court, they all knew they were being inconvenienced so that the firm could bill more hours to our clients.

Of course, there are times when multiple attorneys need to be present in the same courthouse for different matters.  Indeed, I remember one time, my firm sent two different lawyers to argue two completely separate motions in front of the same judge, and this made sense, since each individual attorney had separately prepared their own motions.  However, for most compliance conferences, only one attorney needs to be present in court and can handle multiple matters.

Indeed, I once worked at a firm that handled some of its cases through a flat fee arrangement.  For these matters, the firm never sent more than one attorney to handle these matters in a given courthouse, since they could not bill for multiple lawyers.  I remember one time, I had to run between two courthouses that were next door to each other, since I was representing clients who were paying flat fees, and my firm did not want to send additional attorneys to handle matters that could be addressed by one fleet-footed attorney!

In the end, if a court appearance is scheduled, it is easy to justify to a client that an attorney must be present and that billable hours must be logged.  However, just because a court appearance is scheduled doesn’t mean that an appearance by an attorney is absolutely necessary.  Although forgoing unnecessary court appearances might mean less revenues to firms (and more difficulty meeting billable hour quotas for associates), it usually ensures that attorneys provide more value to their clients.

Jordan Rothman is the Managing Attorney of The Rothman Law Firm, a New Jersey and New York litigation boutique. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].