Docu Beware: The Perils Of Vacation
The Illinois Administrator has charged an attorney with dishonest billing to clients for unperformed work
Between April 2017 and September 2017, Respondent worked at the Carden & Sax law firm (“firm”) in Chicago as a salaried associate attorney. During her employment at the firm, Respondent prepared records of the time she expended on behalf of clients. Respondent’s records, which included a description of services Respondent claimed to have provided and the amount of time she recorded were combined with records prepared by the firm’s other attorneys or staff relating to the time they expended on the firm’s clients’ behalf which, when considered with the hourly charges for the individual worker’s services, were submitted to the firm’s partners to determine what fee was due the firm. The firm’s partners oversaw Respondent’s work on the assignments they gave her and her billing.
Between April 2017 and September 2017, Respondent entered her records of the time she expended into “Docuware” a document management system used inter alia, by the firm for its billing system. Respondent could review a record of her billing entries and knew that the firm’s partners would review those entries in determining what amounts to charge the firm’s clients.
Between April 2017 and September 2017, the firm’s partners assigned Respondent to analyze medical records and prepare written summaries or reports regarding her review of those records in connection with the representation of at least ten of the firm’s clients in nursing home defense cases. All of the firm’s clients required that the firm prepare and provide such written summaries to them, and the firm’s supervising attorneys were to review all written summaries and reports Respondent prepared before the firm sent the reports to its clients.
Between April 2017 and September 2017, the firm charged its clients $180 for each hour of Respondent’s time that was billed to the client as having been spent on the client’s behalf. Respondent knew of the hourly rate at which the firm billed her services.
Between April 2017 and September 2017, Respondent knew that the firm required that each entry in her records of time expended should contain detail regarding the type of work she performed, the time she spent doing that work, and what client matter related to the work performed…
Upon receipt of the bills, the clients paid the firm approximately, $3,942 based on the entries described…above.
Respondent knew or should have known that the firm’s clients would pay the firm for her purported work described…above.
Of interest is the manner of her unmasking
In or about September 2017, while Respondent was on a vacation, another attorney in the firm attempted to review the work product Respondent claimed to have created and for which clients had been billed. When she could not locate the work product, the firm’s supervising attorneys initiated a search for it and discovered that Respondent’s purported work product could not be located in the firm’s computerized files, dictation logs, paper files, or on Respondent’s desktop computer’s hard drive.
The supervising attorneys contacted Respondent immediately and asked her to produce her work product to them but at no time did Respondent provide copies of her work product to the firm. Instead, Respondent resigned her position with the firm with no notice. As a result, Respondent’s firm assigned other lawyers to complete the work Respondent purported to have done and the clients were not billed for the services those attorneys provided.
(Mike Frisch)