Woodland Hills Attorney Barry P. Goldberg warns his colleagues to have believable and accurate time records or risk receiving no compensation whatsoever from a reviewing court. Since the California Court of Appeal did not publish its decision on March 13, 2013, the case name and law firm will be spared mention in this article. However, the Los Angeles Superior Court trial court judgment and court of appeal decision will be the next “talked about” billing case which will circulate through law firms that regularly bill by the hour.

Law Firms must endeavor to keep accurate records of billing or risk receiving nothing. At a minimum, Law Firms must have clear bills indicating exactly what work was performed, when it was performed and who performed the work. Computerized descriptions with identical time increments should be avoided. Finally, someone should review all billing statements to make certain that an attorney never bills for more than 24 hours in any given day!