Court Appearance Minimums Clause Samples
The Court Appearance Minimums clause establishes the minimum amount of compensation or time that must be provided for an attorney or representative when required to appear in court. Typically, this clause ensures that even if the actual court appearance is brief or canceled at the last minute, the professional is still entitled to a predetermined minimum fee or number of billable hours. Its core function is to protect legal professionals from lost income due to unpredictable court schedules and to provide clarity and fairness in billing practices related to court appearances.
Court Appearance Minimums a) When required to make a court appearance on a scheduled day off, there shall be either a payment equal to three (3) hours pay at the overtime rate or payment for all hours actually worked at the overtime rate, whichever is greater. Morning and afternoon appearances on the same day in the same case shall be considered as a single, continuing appearance. Morning and afternoon appearances on the same day on separate cases shall be considered as separate appearances. Pay for two court appearances is the maximum that can be paid for one day, regardless of the number of required appearances.
b) Any and all court appearance time worked immediately prior to or following a complete scheduled shift shall be paid at the overtime rate for all hours.
c) If an employee is called back for Court duty and picks up evidence for Court, and the Court duty extends beyond three (3) hours, the employee shall be credited, upon authorization, with an additional one-half (1/2) hour pay for travel.
d) If an employee appears in court during a scheduled vacation, he/she will receive overtime pay rather than vacation credit. Such pay will be entered into payroll following the employee's return to work from vacation.
e) When required to make court appearances more than three (3) hours prior to the beginning or following the conclusion of a regularly scheduled work shift there shall be a minimum payment of three (3) hours paid at the overtime rate or payment for all hours of the appearance at the overtime rate, whichever is greater.
f) The term "court appearance" includes appearances at Inmate Disciplinary Hearings.
g) If an employee is scheduled to appear in court on behalf of the County immediately following a regularly scheduled night shift; that employee, with prior written management approval, shall be allowed to take the last four and one-half (4.5) hours of the shift scheduled immediately prior to the court appearance as paid time off that will not be debited against any of the employee’s leave banks.