A recent article at Law360.com is the inspiration for today’s post about the five items that should never appear on a client invoice for legal services.  Unfortunately, these do crop up from time to time, and are pretty much guaranteed to raise the ire of your corporate or consumer client.

Here’s the list:

1. Your lunch.  The economic pinch many law firms felt (and are still feeling) led many to look for every little line item they could include to help offset their operations costs.  One of those is food.  If you’re billing a large client, this is especially egregious, coming off as nickel-and-dime behavior.  Sure, some meals are expected to be included in travel expenses -- but let’s not include every donut a busy associate consumes while working on a case.

2. Utilities.  Many office buildings won’t turn on the heat or air conditioning over a weekend unless you pay for it.  But clients don’t want to see that on a bill.  Examine your miscellaneous charges for things like this that are certain to raise a client’s eyebrows.

3. Experts without invoices.  If you have hired an expert to consult or testify in a case, don’t just include their fee as a line item on the invoice without attaching the expert’s invoice as well.  Clients want transparency in their billing.

4. Bills for billing.  Clients do not want to see a line item on your invoice for time spent calculating that invoice.  In their minds, this is part of maintaining their working relationship with you, not something to be charged for.

5. Case clerks and fleeting associates.  General counsels can get a burr under their saddle when new names pop up on an invoice with a charge for a small amount of time, especially if it’s an inexperienced associate who is learning on the client’s dime.  GC’s are scrutinizing outside counsel closer than ever before, so don’t give them a reason to question your value by charging them for staff time in organizing their case files either.