Attorneys Can't Charge Full Rate for Travel Time
A judge ruled that attorneys who were seeking to have their fees paid at the end of a law suit can not charge their full hourly rate for travel time. This makes sense to me. I've never charged my regular hourly rate for travel time. But this issue isn't as simple as it sounds, and is getting more complicated as technology changes.
I do charge if I have to travel more than about 30 minutes from the office for a client. My travel is billed at a much lower rate than "working" time is. But how much time I bill for always involves some calculating. With laptops and wifi and electronic files, I can sometimes be pretty productive waiting for a flight, or even on a plane. Obviously if I'm doing regular billable work, I'm not billing the client for whom I am traveling -- I'm billing the client for whom I'm doing the work. So I have to deduct that time from the travel time.
I wonder if the the attorneys who billed full rate for travel time also billed out time to other clients while they traveled. Which reminds me of a joke....
A man dies and is standing before St. Peter. He says "this has to be a mistake. I shouldn't be dead. I'm 38, and in the prime of life. I eat only healthy, organic foods and I exercise regularly." St. Peter looks in his book and says "38? You're 38? Somethings wrong here. Based on the hours you've billed out so far, we thought you were at least 75."
In a moment of irony, the article that talks about the legal fees ruling ends with the comment: "Elihu Inselbuch, the Caplin & Drysdale partner handling the matter, was traveling and could not be reached for comment."
