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Audits Why should I conduct an audit? Do you always audit the entire bill? How long does an audit take to complete? I see that some firms guarantee their results. Do you? What are the benefits of conducting an audit? How do I contact you for an estimate or to perform an audit? Why should I conduct a bill review? How do you conduct a bill review? How much of the bill do you review? How long does a bill review take to complete? What happens after the bill review? I see that some firms guarantee their results. Do you? What are the benefits of conducting a bill review? How much does a bill review cost? How do I contact you for an estimate or to perform a bill review? What if I want something more extensive than a bill review? What is a due diligence review? Why should I conduct a due diligence review? How do you conduct a due diligence review? What happens after the due diligence review? What are the benefits of conducting a due diligence review? How much does a due diligence review cost? How do I contact you for more information about a due diligence review? What if I have a particular matter that’s concerning me right now? What are legal matter guidelines? Will I have any input in the creation of the guidelines? How do I get started with guidelines? What kind of training and seminars do you offer? How do I contact you about conducting a seminar?
Audits A legal bill audit is a comprehensive, detailed analysis of legal bills and the underlying legal files and documents. The bills can be from one or more law firms for one or more matters. (back to top) Why should I conduct an audit? You should conduct an audit if you think your law firm’s bills are excessively or continuously high or you suspect the law firm of inappropriate or fraudulent billing practices. You can also choose to conduct an audit, even where you do not suspect any improprieties to be occurring, as part of a due diligence program. Please be aware that an audit is not possible in all circumstances. Certain jurisdictions consider a third-party audit (such as occurs when an insurer desires to audit a law firm representing one of its insureds) to be a violation of the attorney’s ethical obligations regarding confidentiality unless the law firm has received informed written consent to the audit from its client. (back to top) The audit is usually conducted at the law firm so we can access the complete files for the matter. Prior to conducting the audit, we send the law firm a short, custom-tailored questionnaire requesting foundational information related to the firm’s practices on staffing and expenses, any fee agreements in effect, and the matters being handled for the client. This helps us to prepare for the audit. During the audit, we interview selected personnel, inventory the firm’s documents related to the matter, and compare the tasks billed with the documents, including briefs, legal research, attorney notes, telephone notes, correspondence, e-mails, deposition transcripts, etc. We also review the pre-bills and expense documentation and, as necessary, we look at timesheets or other contemporaneous billing records. In comparing the tasks billed with the documents, we seek to: (1) ensure that the time billed for the documents correlates with the length and complexity of the documents; (2) look for excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary fees and costs; and (3) identify other patterns, whether good or bad. Although we look at virtually the entire file during the course of the audit, we restore everything to the way it was provided to us, to the best of our ability to do so, to minimize any disruption to the firm. We also seek to be as unobtrusive as possible during the audit. (back to top) Do you always audit the entire bill? No. If the amount in question is large, auditing the entire bill may be unnecessary. In such circumstances, we would recommend auditing only a sample of the entire bill. From this sample, we can extrapolate our findings to the entire bill. We will work with you to determine whether it makes sense to audit the entire bill or only a portion of it. In the latter case, we can work with you to determine the appropriate sample or we can make that decision for you based on our experience and expertise. (back to top) How long does an audit take to complete? The length of an audit depends on the amount of legal fees involved, the hourly rates of the professionals, and the matter’s density. Audits can last anywhere from one day to one month or more. We will stay in frequent contact with you during the course of the audit and may recommend that the audit be narrowed or broadened in scope if our preliminary findings indicate either of those to be appropriate. (back to top) Our usual practice after an audit is to provide you with a detailed written report setting forth our findings, analysis, and recommendations. If the audit is a precursor to a motion, arbitration, or some other judicial process, we can also provide our data in the form of a declaration or as expert witness testimony. (back to top) I see that some firms guarantee their results. Do you? Some audit firms do “guarantee” that they will find a certain dollar amount or percentage of improper billing entries in the bills they audit. We believe that if we offered such a "guarantee," it would be at the expense of our ethics and credibility. However, before undertaking any project we usually conduct a mini-review of the legal bills, at no cost to the client, and do a cost/benefit analysis. Sometimes we recommend against proceeding with the audit or bill review. While we do not offer the guarantee discussed above, we do guarantee that we will audit the bills in a professional and competent manner, as set forth in our contract with you. (back to top) What are the benefits of conducting an audit? An audit provides you with the greatest amount of information possible for use in evaluating the law firm’s overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness, in fee dispute resolution, or in determining the proper amount to be paid in attorneys’ fees. (back to top) The cost of an audit depends on several factors including the amount of the bills to be audited, the various hourly billing rates, and the complexity of the matter under audit. If the audit includes travel out of the San Francisco Bay Area, we will not charge you for our travel time, but will pass through our reasonable travel costs to you. (back to top) How do I contact you for an estimate or to perform an audit? Give us a call at (800) 532-3000 or e-mail us. (back to top) In that case, we recommend that you consider conducting a bill review, which is not as extensive as an audit, but provides you with similar, although less detailed, information. (back to top) Bill Reviews A bill review is a thorough analysis of legal bills and some of their related files and documents. The bills can be from one or more firms for one or more matters. (back to top) Why should I conduct a bill review? You should conduct a bill review if you are concerned that your legal bills are excessively high. For example, if one matter, type of matter, or firm out of several consistently produces unexpectedly higher fees than do the others. You can also conduct a bill review as a part of your due diligence program. (back to top) How do you conduct a bill review? The review is usually conducted in our offices although we have performed them in our client’s offices as well. Using our computer-assisted system, we review the bills and look for excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary fees and costs. We also seek to identify other patterns, whether good or bad. We may also review copies of relevant correspondence and legal work product from your files. (back to top) How much of the bill do you review? We usually review the entire bill as that provides the best and most accurate analysis of the bills. However, we may review only a select portion of the bills such as a given time period or matter. While we will consult with you and give you our recommendation on what should be reviewed, the final decision is up to you. (back to top) How long does a bill review take to complete? The length of a bill review depends on many of the same factors that go into calculating the cost of the review. That is, how much in legal fees are involved, the hourly rates of the professionals, and the matter’s density. Generally a bill review can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. (back to top) What happens after the bill review? Our usual practice after a bill review is to provide you with a detailed written report setting forth our findings, analysis, and recommendations. If the bill review is a precursor to a motion, arbitration, or some other judicial process, we can provide our data in the form of a declaration. We’ve also presented oral reports to certain clients who’ve requested them. (back to top) I see that some firms guarantee their results. Do you? Some firms do “guarantee” that they will find a certain dollar amount or percentage of improper billing entries in the bills they review. We believe that if we offered such a "guarantee," it would be at the expense of our ethics and credibility. However, before undertaking any project we usually conduct a mini-review of the legal bills, at no cost to the client, and do a cost/benefit analysis. Sometimes we recommend against proceeding with the audit or bill review. While we do not offer the guarantee discussed above, we do guarantee that we will review the bills in a professional and competent manner, as set forth in our contract with you. (back to top) What are the benefits of conducting a bill review? A bill review provides you with a cost-effective evaluation of your counsel’s staffing, efficiency, and billing practices. It can also be used in fee dispute resolution, or in determining the proper amount to be paid in attorneys’ fees to your own attorneys or in a fee-shifting situation. (back to top) How much does a bill review cost? The cost of a bill review depends on several factors including the amount of the bills to be reviewed, the various hourly billing rates, and the complexity of the matter under review. To receive an estimate for your bill review, please contact us. (back to top) How do I contact you for an estimate or to perform a bill review? Give us a call at (800) 532-3000 or e-mail us. (back to top) What if I want something more extensive than a bill review? If you feel that you need something more extensive than a bill review, we recommend you consider performing an audit. (back to top) Due Diligence Review What is a due diligence review? A due diligence review is a process to assure yourself, your board of directors, or the people to whom you must report that your outside counsel are handling your legal matters according to your instructions and in a cost-effective manner. This type of review is used as check-up for your outside attorneys. It will often catch small problems before they become big problems. In addition, it provides useful data to compare the performance of your firms. (back to top) Why should I conduct a due diligence review? You should conduct a due diligence review if you need or want to show that your counsel is handling your legal matters in a cost-effective manner. (back to top) How do you conduct a due diligence review? There are two basic options for performing a due diligence review. First, the review can be performed as a discrete, one-time bill review for matters handled in a previous time period; for example, we can review all or a portion of your counsel’s bills for a previous year. Another option is to engage us to be available to perform a series of reviews over the course of a fiscal or calendar year; for example, to review up to a certain dollar amount of your counsel’s bills for next year as they come in and as you decide you want them reviewed. (back to top) What happens after the due diligence review? Our standard practice is to provide you with a written report following each review, detailing our findings, analysis, and recommendations. (back to top) What are the benefits of conducting a due diligence review? A due diligence review is a good tool for assessing your outside counsel. It will identify deficiencies and spot trends that you might not otherwise notice and help you manage your legal expenses more effectively. (back to top) How much does a due diligence review cost? That depends on how much you want reviewed. We have found that the best way to project a budget for a due diligence review is to look at the last few years worth of legal bills to arrive at an average amount for your annual legal expenditures and then to select an appropriate percentage to be reviewed. We will set the budget to review up to that amount of bills for a fixed fee. (back to top) How do I contact you for more information about a due diligence review? Give us a call at (800) 532-3000 or e-mail us. (back to top) What if I have a particular matter that’s concerning me right now? In that case, we recommend performing either a bill review or an audit, depending on the nature of the matter. (back to top) Guidelines Guidelines are a set of rules you give to your law firms as standing directives for specific aspects of the legal representation and invoicing functions. There are two types of guidelines: legal matter and billing. (back to top) What are legal matter guidelines? Legal matter guidelines direct or limit the attorney’s actions in representing you. For example, you may want your attorney to obtain your approval before starting a legal research project that is anticipated to cost more than $10,000 or before sending two attorneys to cover the deposition of a peripheral witness. (back to top) Billing guidelines direct or limit how the attorney presents his or her invoices to you. They can also direct what expenses you will and will not pay and how much you will pay for them. They do not directly direct or limit the attorney’s actions in representation and so usually don’t present the same types of ethical issues as do legal matter guidelines. As far as we are aware, to date, no jurisdiction has declared billing guidelines to be improper or unethical. (back to top) Will I have any input in the creation of the guidelines? Absolutely. You know your specific legal situation intimately well — we don’t. Therefore, your input is essential in deciding what should and should not be placed into the guidelines. We will have our suggestions and recommendations, but the final decision is ultimately up to you. It’s your product. (back to top) How do I get started with guidelines? Give us a call at (800) 532-3000 or e-mail us. (back to top) Training and Seminars What kind of training and seminars do you offer? We offer many different kinds of seminars designed to help you manage your legal resources. These are not “canned” presentations, but are custom tailored specifically to your requirements and audience. (back to top) How do I contact you about conducting a seminar? Give us a call at (800) 532-3000 or e-mail us. (back to top)
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© 2011 · Galvin & Hom Consulting, LLC · 875A Island Drive, #321 · Alameda, CA 94502 · (800) 532-3000 · Fax (877) 532-3001 |