The DLA Piper law suit offers a peek at the practice of inflating a legal bill

26 March 2013– Ah, The Law Factory.  A few weeks ago we had a U.S. District Court ordering a law firm to hand over information about contract attorneys it employed with respect to a lawsuit where the legal fees were deemed “excessive” (click here).

In today’s New York Times another doozy.  The Times has a background story on the lawsuit involving DLA Piper and law firm billing.  Lawyers at DLA Piper traded casual e-mails about a client’s case. One made a sarcastic joke about how the bill was running way over budget. Another described a colleague’s approach to the assignment as “churn that bill, baby!”

The e-mails emerged in a court filing late last week (alert! expect a tsunami of e-discovery pundit commentary to come!) that provide a window into what the Times calls the “thorny issue” of law firm billing. Says the Times: “the documents are likely to reinforce a perception held by many corporate clients – and the public – that law firms inflate bills by performing superfluous tasks and overstaffing assignments.”

For the full New York Times story click here.