Billing for Reused Work Product

 

Opinion rules that a lawyer who has agreed to bill a client on the basis of hours expended may not bill the client on the same basis for reused work product.

 

Inquiry #1:

 

A lawyer with Law Firm researched a legal issue for Client A. Client A was billed for the work by Law Firm and paid the bill. Client B is also a client of Law Firm. Client B's legal matters are totally unrelated to those of Client A. However, the legal research which was prepared for Client A is relevant to Client B's legal matter and if Law Firm had not previously researched the particular legal issue and preserved the prior research, it would be necessary to research the issue again for Client B. Client B and Law Firm agreed that Client B would be billed at an hourly rate for each hour expended by one of Law Firm's lawyers doing work on Client B's behalf. May the research originally prepared for Client A be reused and Client B billed for the research?

 

Opinion #1:

 

No. A lawyer who has agreed to bill a client on the basis of hours expended does not fulfill her ethical duty if she bills the client for more time than was actually expended on the client's behalf.

 

The comment to Rule 2.6 of the Rule of Professional Conduct, the rule that regulates legal fees, states, "[o]nce a fee contract has been reached between attorney and client, the attorney has an ethical obligation to fulfill the contract and represent the client's best interest regardless of whether he has struck an unfavorable bargain." A lawyer also has a duty to deal honestly with clients. See Rule 1.2(c). Implicit in an agreement with a client to bill at an hourly rate for hours expended on the client's behalf is the understanding that for each hour of work billed to the client, an hour's worth of work was actually performed. If a lawyer who has agreed to accept hourly compensation for her work subsequently bills the client for reused work product, the lawyer would be engaging in dishonest conduct in violation of Rule 1.2(c).

 

However, the lawyer may bill at an hourly rate for the time expended tailoring old work product to the needs of a new client, and the lawyer is also free, with full disclosure, to suggest to a client that additional compensation would be appropriate because the lawyer was able to reuse prior work product for the client's benefit. Moreover, it is not unethical to charge for the value of reused work product if the original fee agreement with the client or any renegotiated fee agreement includes the express understanding that the client will be charged a reasonable fee, which is not based upon hourly compensation, for the reused work product.

 

Inquiry #2:

 

If the answer to Inquiry #1 is affirmative, may Law Firm charge Client B at the same rate that it charged Client A for the service?

 

Opinion #2:

 

No. See Opinion #1 above.