When clients win certain types of cases, the other side must reimburse their attorneys’ fees. When that happens, judges review the attorneys’ fees to make sure they are reasonable, both in terms of hours spent and the time charged.
Our attorneys pride themselves on reasonably billing clients. When our attorneys’ fees are reviewed for reasonableness, it is common for our fees to be granted, in full, which is often not the case.
In a recent case in Centre County, our attorneys submitted an attorney fee petition after five years of successful litigation. Our client, a municipal wastewater authority, won the case outright, so the defendant, a hotel company, was required to reimburse our clients’ attorneys’ fees. Our attorneys submitted the fee petition to the court, and those attorneys’ fees were granted, in full, without any reductions. That ruling was significant; it means that our client invoices, over five years of litigation, were unquestionably fair – not just for our client, but also for the losing party.
Many law firms claim that they bill clients reasonably, but few have the history of successful attorneys’ fees petitions that our firm has. When hiring a new firm, consider asking for a copy of their latest attorneys’ fee petition for a client, and the outcome of that petition. Those petitions are public record, and they will provide a good insight into what you might be paying if that law firm chooses to handle your matter, and whether a judge believes those fees are reasonable.