Common use of Authorized Billing Personnel Clause in Contracts

Authorized Billing Personnel. The Firm will designate one senior level attorney to have primary responsibility for each matter assigned by Citizens. Each matter is expected to be staffed according to the specific needs of the assignment. All matters assigned to the Firm are expected to be handled in the most economic and efficient manner. It is expected that each task is to be accomplished by one legal professional. Citizens will not honor fees submitted for duplication of efforts. In an effort to ensure economic and efficient handling of each matter assigned to the Firm, no more than two attorneys (one senior level attorney, one associate/ junior level attorney) and one paralegal should be assigned to each matter for handling throughout the life of the matter, unless otherwise pre-approved by Citizens. Billing by an unauthorized timekeeper on an individual matter will not be honored. Should it become necessary to assign additional timekeepers to the matter, prior approval from the assigned Litigation Specialist is required and must be noted by the Litigation Specialist in Acuity prior to the timekeeper becoming involved. Citizens reserves the right to deny all time and/or expenses billed by an unauthorized timekeeper for a lack of documentation showing pre-approval in Acuity. Documentation of pre-approval must reflect the name of the Citizens’ representative authorizing a change in assigned timekeepers or the use of additional timekeepers. Further, charges related to the departure of a Firm timekeeper, including time spent by the new timekeeper(s) assigned by the Firm to familiarize himself/herself with the matter is considered firm overhead and billing for this task will not be honored. Tasks that can be delegated to an associate or paralegal should be delegated to ensure economic and efficient handling of each matter. In matters where an associate’s or paralegal’s services are employed, Citizens expects all work performed to be overseen and approved by a senior level attorney. Citizens does not consider the review of an associate’s or paralegal’s work to be a billable event and will not honor such billing. Citizens is not responsible for the training of Firm personnel. Although it is recognized that frequent reviews and conferences are necessary for the training of new associates and paralegals, Citizens will not honor billing for such matters.