Everest (1600, 1680) Ebilled - $15k threshold, quarterly billing over $500, or when expense advancement reaches or exceeds $2,500 – Legal-X
- Block billing is not acceptable.
Prior Approvals
Prior approval is required:
- To bill more than 10 hours/day by a timekeeper, excluding travel time
- More than two timekeepers on a matter
- Prior approval will not be given to bill more than 20 hours/day by a timekeeper
- Research greater than 3 hours per topic
- Changes in staff on a matter
- Travel time greater than 1 hour
- The outsourcing of any legal counsel
- The appointment of any outside investigator, surveillance, or expert, including proposed rates
- Extraordinary expenses, including but not limited to expenses for support services for the preparation of litigation, rental or purchase of equipment, recording of testimony, images, documents, etc.
Staffing
- On routine matters the Partner or Senior Associate will be the primary timekeeper, supported by an Associate and Paralegal.
- When more than one timekeeper is working on a matter, the tasks carried out by each should be appropriate to the level of the timekeeper.
- Duplicative work is not billable. Where multiple timekeepers are working on the same task the entry should identify separate purposes of the work or separate, specific, and tangible work product for each timekeeper.
- Where multiple Timekeepers are copied into correspondence only one fee earner can bill for time spent reviewing and responding to it.
- As a rule, supervision is not billable. The exception is where supervision takes the form of a review of documents by a senior timekeeper.
Work to be completed by Associates
Unless prior approval is received, and the approver identified in the invoice task description, all of the following tasks shall be completed by an Associate:
- Initial draft of an Answer
- Initial draft of Declarations and Disclosures
- Initial Preparation of Discovery responses and non-standard discovery requests
- Initial draft of Jury Instructions
- Initial Preparation of Litigation Hold Notices
- Large-Scale Document Review
- Initial draft of Privilege Logs
- Initial draft of Position Statements
- Procedural Court Appearances
- Conducting Legal Research
Non-Reimbursable Costs
- Invoice preparation, including dealing with payment inquiries, or other tasks associated with billing
- Intra-office conferences
- Attendance by more than one attorney at any deposition, conference, trial, or other hearing without prior approval from Everest
- Any file review done when the file is transferred to a new attorney, unless otherwise approved by Everest
- Research in excess of three hours per topic, unless previously authorized
- Fees and costs associated with Lexis, Westlaw or other electronic or computer-assisted research
- Administrative services including secretarial and clerical functions, as well as the following:
- General overhead costs
- Opening mail
- Acknowledgement letters
- New file set up
- Maintenance of office and attorney calendars
- Transcribing, copying, posting, faxing, emailing, and inserting documents into and retrieving documents from the file
- Charges for facsimile transmissions
- Preparing form letters and pleadings
- Normal postage
- Telephone bills
- Communicating with copy services, interpreters, court reporters, medical offices, or other law offices for the purpose of scheduling
- Scheduling depositions, medical exams, or other appointments
- In-house messenger service
- In-house photocopying expenses.
- FedEx Overnight Service unless specific time constraints are required. If these items are billed, an explanation must be provided
- Mileage in excess of the current IRS rate for mileage reimbursement
- Everest agrees to pay 50% of the billing rate for all travel time in excess of one hour. Unless otherwise approved, Everest will not pay for travel time of less than one hour.
- Charges for preparation of a Legal Budget in excess of .3 of an hour
- Preparation of ad hoc reports
- Meals/airfare/hotel charges unless pre-approved by Everest. It is expected that Counsel will seek the lowest available coach/economy fare for air travel, hotel, car rentals and meals, with meals up to $100 per person per day and hotels not to exceed $400 per night. Travel, including hotel should be booked 14 days or more in advance. Entertainment, dry cleaning, or other non-essential charges will not be reimbursed. Receipts must be submitted for all travel expenses.
Ancillary Legal Costs
Each firm is requested to advance the following ancillary legal costs unless other arrangements are approved by Everest. Any ancillary legal costs over $25 require a receipt that is attached to the invoice.
- Court Costs
- Court reporters
- Photocopy services
- Service fees
- External messenger services
