FAQ: Guidance on supervision?

 

Question:

When a lawyer works with an assistant, is the time entered as an attorney or a supervisor?

 

Answer:

Select the task code that most accurately describes the actual work that you are doing with your assistant.  The ATTORNEY (ATTY) task code prefix will probably be most accurate, and we anticipate it will be used in most cases. Time spent working together on legal matters, in defense of the case, should be billed to a legal / litigation task code and that case, and not to supervision.

 

For example, if a supervisor is reviewing and editing a pretrial motion to suppress, and collaborating on theories set forth in that motion, that supervisor's work should be billed to CASE / CLIENT NAME / ATTY08. Both the supervisor and the AFPD or AFD are together working on researching and drafting motions, to defend the case.

The SUPERVISION (SUPE) task code contemplates a limited number of tasks, including assigning and distributing workload, evaluating employee performance, mentoring, etc. 

 

 

 

.

 

FAQ: Reviewing Drafts and Other Briefings

Question:

When an attorney gives me a draft of her written work to review (either at my request or hers), do I keep my time by referring to the case in the ATTY categories or do I go under the SUPE01 category?

Answer:

In this example, the supervisor should bill to an ATTY code. He or she is contributing to the active defense of a case, a core function of the office that should be a billing priority. If the supervisor was giving general advice to a junior attorney about trial presentation tactics or oral argument tips (as part of career or staff development) that would be billed under SUPE01. If appropriate, however, the supervision should still be billed to a client, if a case is the context of that discussion.




.