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You can bill for the time reviewing your outline, but not for stuffing your face.
What if the two things occurred at the same time?
I always used the “but for” test — but for the deposition, I wouldn’t be having lunch in this conference room… etc. for a half hour, but I could be doing “y” instead.
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Why wouldn’t you bill the time you looked at the outline?
If a deposition goes a full day, I bill the full day. No need to be subtracting time for short breaks and lunch imo.
Agreed. You blocked off your time for that task. Also, bill for reviewing the outline.
I bill for dreams about cases
My life
You're still in attendance at the depo though you are on break.
Yeah that’s what I thought too
Conservatively, you bill from the start of the depo until the very end. All breaks included.
You should bill You are at the deposition. You are working on the case. You are reviewing the next step...
just you BEING there is work.
SO yes. You SHOULD bill.
to clarify - you bill. you were working on the case.
Did you add value for the client? If so, always yes.
Even if I didn’t review I’d bill. If I have to eat in a conference room bc of them I’m billing
I think it was a zoom depo
If you were actually reviewing your outlines, yes. If you were eating but not really working, no.
S1 “… required to be available at the office to assist with the trial when called upon”. SOMEONE should be letting you bill them for that. Maybe it’s the firm; maybe the client. But regardless, my time is being held captive. So, if my firm tells me that I need to stay until 10 pm or even later each night just in case I need to assist for trial, I should not be able to bill for that unless I am actively working on the trial or working on another file? That is a ridiculous position to take. I get paid a certain amount under the idea that I put in a general number of billables each day and that from time to time I may have to put more in because of different tasks. I do not get paid under the idea that the firm can force me to stick around “just in case” and not benefit from it.
Moreover, what’s the point in having someone in a war room ready to help unless they know what has been going on in the trial, which requires paying attention to it and, ya know, NOT working on a different file? If someone can do what you need them to do without having paid attention at all during the trial, then you do not need an attorney to be doing it in the first place.
Bill it and let the partner write it off. Probably shouldn’t go to the client but you should get credit
Bill for everything.
From what you described, you're fine to bill. I would not bill if you went out for the lunch hour to socialize, which is not what you described.
Definitely bill for the time! I tell my clients that I am available for pep talks during breaks and lunch on depo day! I haven’t had an in person depo in forever so I need the breaks to build up morale again. I am also normally discussing the questions and the theme of the depo with my paralegal or associates who are accompanying me. You are never really on break on Depo day.
No! It is stealing from the client. If you couldn’t sleep the prior night because you were worried about the depo, you wouldn’t bill the client and you shouldn’t do it for eating lunch. Reviewing the outline is different.
If you’re thinking about the depo, at any point in the day, the clock is running
If in person then yes. I don’t bill for lunch breaks when it’s a remote deposition and I can do other work.
Coach
Unless there are specific guidelines or rules about carving out the lunch break, bill it.
If there is a carve out, then do some work on the break and bill it to preparation for the remainder of the dep or to some other matter.
Unless your rates are like 5-800 plus an hour, the only way to make money and maintain sanity in this business is to simply capture it all. Somehow, someway.
Of course
If you are working in your office on a random Tuesday, and you stop working and step out for lunch, do you bill someone for that? No. Why would you bill for this lunch. If you spent timing babysitting the client or reviewing the outline, by all means, bill away. But if you just want to the subway, got a sandwich and decompressed for 20 minutes, then no. You don’t bill for that.