Legal Ethics
Lawyer Accused of Billing County for More than 24 Hours of Work in a Day
Posted Jun 6, 2008, 10:16 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
An Illinois lawyer who represented indigent juveniles for Cook County, which includes Chicago, has been accused of billing for more than 20 hours of daily work on nearly 90 different days.
On 38 occasions, lawyer Jeffery Luckett of Homewood is accused of billing for more than 24 hours in a day, according to a complaint by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Apparently his “most productive” day, the Legal Profession Blog reports, was March 15, 2005, when he allegedly billed the county for 40 hours of work.
The complaint says the excess billing occurred from May 2003 through March 2006, and was included in a $350,000 bill submitted in 2006 for services reaching back to 2001.
Luckett did not immediately return a phone call for comment.
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Comments
Posted by Gary - 5 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 39 minutes ago
Interesting. Blame it on the billable hour….
Ponder this: if a lawyer bills at 1/4 hour increments (with consent of clients) and his first phone call takes 5 minutes, his second takes 5 minutes and his third takes 5 minutes - whether it be for the same client or for different clients- isn’t it permissible for him to bill for 3/4 of an hour when the actual time spent is 15 minutes?
Posted by Renee - 5 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes ago
For the record, Attorney J. Luckett has not been paid for those hours nor the hours that are not in dispute.
Posted by texan99 - 5 months, 2 weeks, 36 minutes ago
I bill by the tenth-hour, as required in bankruptcy court. If I have three tasks that add up to 0.1 hour, I still bill for only 0.1 hour. If I have to bill them to three different matters or clients, I either drop 2 of the 3, or I make up the excess with other time that was slightly over the nominal 0.1 hour.
Billing in hourly increments is never an excuse for lying.