These codes are commonly adopted by Legal Departments and law firms for task-based billing. The American Bar Association (“ABA”) publishes and maintains a Uniform Task-Based Management System code set. This is a critical requirement for effective cost management.

Mandating task-based billing – requiring that each line item on the bill be assigned a pre-defined task code. hotel expenses may not exceed $325 per night, no first-class air travel)ĭefining acceptable time entries– requiring the law firm to bill in standardized, pre-defined increments (e.g. Placing limits on expenses– expense policies should be included as part of the Billing Guidelines (e.g. the attorney may not bill more than 40 hours at the rate of $200 an hour to file pleadings). Setting caps– on the number of hours an attorney can bill for a particular task or stage (e.g. rate caps for partners, associates and paralegals) Examples of individual Billing Guidelines might include:Įstablishing maximum hourly rates– by resource type for a particular case (e.g.

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