Many commentators on the blog are chatting about this NBC Six story: attorneys billing millions of dollars over the last decade for court appointed death penalty work.
We first note that if an attorney was paid two million dollars over ten years, that's 200K a year and not an outrageous amount.
We next note that our State Attorney withheld no shots, kicking and kicking again the attorneys who are accused of over billing. These are good lawyers who are zealous advocates on the worst types of cases, and they fight the Dade SAO as hard as possible defending their clients.
We think it unseemly that Ms. Rundle has attacked these lawyers, effectively helping to prevent these experienced lawyers from getting appointed on new cases where they do not roll over and just plead their clients to the death penalty.
The Dade SAO has a much bigger role in the problems of these death penalty cases. For example, did you know that
1) The Dade SAO has a POLICY of asking for death on almost every death eligible case. THEN, they spend the next two years deciding if they really want the death penalty. Don't you think it should be the other way around? That they should treat the decision to seek death with the serious and solemn thoughtfulness that such a decision should entail? Instead, they automatically seek death, which automatically results in the appointment of two lawyers billing taxpayers, and then the SAO asks the defense to convince them why they should not seek death. And now Ms. Rundle complains that lawyers are billing for the work they caused?? Really??? Shame on her.
2) It takes an average of MORE THAN SIX MONTHS for a lead detective's report in a homicide case to be completed and released (many times it is more than a year). During that interregnum after arraignment the case sits while everyone waits for the lead's report. And yet Ms. Rundle complains in the article about how long it takes to resolve these cases. If you want to shave a year off the process, kick your detectives in the ass and tell them to write up their report. And while you're at it, tell them to NOT DESTROY THEIR NOTES. What exactly are they afraid of are in those notes that require them to destroy them?
And finally, this. The article is an embarrassment to our profession. Those lawyers, colleagues all, should know better. Nobody should bill 24 hours in a day. Even Rumpole sleeps 8-9 hours a day. No one should bill 355 days a year on the same case. Rumpole vacations for two months in the summer, and the winter ski trip, not to mention spring sabbaticals. No one should bill hundreds of hours listening to jail calls- bills that take up six and seven months of a year, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
It is very easy to get practice software that tracks legal work and billing. Handwritten records won't do. Get an APP.
The public already doesn't believe these people charged with these crimes should get a defense. This type of billing makes it worse. And what makes it really really bad is that apparently ONLY MIAMI LAWYERS are the ones whose bills are being flagged for this.
Ouch. These lawyers are all good and decent people -we know most of them and the quality of their legal work- one name we didn't recognize- they are very good criminal defense attorneys. The clients and the courts lose out on their effective representations because of their sloppy billing.
What a mess.
18 comments:
This is not the first time this has happened. I have sat in JAC fee hearings and watched who was asking for what and it was obvious what was going on but, the judges were just judges.
I know someone who reported this to JAC years ago and now we get this.
Most of the small lawyers have been swallowed up by big firms. BBDO, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Jordan/Rier, and of course, McCann. How do they bill?
Rumpole nailed it- KFR cast blame to deflect from her office's shortcomings.
Is there a legitimate reason why the detectives take so long to get us their report? Seems to me they would type up their notes right after closing the case thru arrest, maybe a few days but a year??
Just pay a flat fee of $125k , $25 when u accept the case and $100 when it's done.. withdrawals seriously frowned upon- virtually not allowed, like federal, and watch these cases close within two years maximum!
This isn't sloppy billing this is fraud. They lied about the work they did to earn more money and did it a number of times over a number of years. They also did it poorly. They billed over 24 hours per day multiple times; billed hours upon hours for reviewing simple documents; and in all likelihood lied about doing things they never actually did. Even 200k per year comes out to 38 hours per week every week at the JAC rate of 100/hour for them to work on just the death cases they handle.
I'm not sure why you say it's Rundle's fault for them not getting new appointment cases. They got thrown off the wheel due to their own "billing practices." Sure the state has discovery problems but in no way is that a defense to this. Are they billing for time spent waiting for the lead's report?
I can agree this is an embarrassment but it's not every lawyer its these specific lawyers - who as 6:28 says - were at every JAC hearing asking for massive sums of money for work they clearly didn't do. I don't think they should be criminally prosecuted or even face bar consequences and I get it, you're friends with some of them and want to help out, but lets call a spade a spade.
So, like insurance companies, the State pays a pitifully low hourly rate and then bitches if there are overcharges, which would probably not result in overpayments. If I was charged with a murder, I would not want a $100 per hour lawyer doing my work. Maybe if they paid $250 or 275 per hours, still way below what is charged by top flight lawyers, they would get more carefully monitored reports.
318 has hit the bullseye. Juiced hours to make up for absurdly low rates.
I am a civil lawyer and read these comments with amusement. There is an old saying, if you are going to steal, go big. Only the petty thieves get caught. You should come over to civil and see the billing fraud that goes on. There are numerous "fee shifting" laws such as ADA, FLSA, Worker's Comp, which are nothing but legalized extortion. Lawyers take these cases en masse, submit inflated and patently fraudulent invoices and judges approve them knowing full well it is all a scam.
You are such a looser. These lawyers are absolute hacks. They don't get private cases ! Truth is based on these facts the lawyers should get charged with crimes. It's not a close call. Sorry. Embarrassing. If the rate was 250 an house their bills would be double what they were. They billed 20/30 times what they actually worked. They didn't even go to trial on these cases. Seriously disgraceful.
Who are the lawyers who allegedly overbill?
Do away with the damn death penalty. Save the taxpayers the expense, move these cases along, and if the guys get life in prison, that sounds like a fate worse than death. Doesn’t deter crime one bit. These cases drag on for a decade, putting the families of the victim through a prolonged period of grief, and then they have to wait 25 years for the asshole to get executed. It’s an outdated system that satisfies a biblical notion of justice.
It's unfortunate this happened. All of the attorneys mentioned in the article are great litigators. They do exceptional work but caught up in something. They do have their own private practice with paying clients as well. Some of the cases mentioned in the article have gone to trial after years of hard work and spared someone's life. This cloud of overbilling will over shadow the great work that was done and that is just sad.
Anonymous 2/27/2022 at 11:23 am, you like many others who comment on those that take court appointed work as hacks who cant make it in private practice are the same type that lie to their potential clients about what they can do for them on their case, steal their money, and then dump them or plea them out to something horrible; OR you take on one case for a client that has multiple cases, charge something ridiculous, and let the PD or RC do all the work and them take credit for the outcome with the client. Taking wheel work doesn’t make you a hack; being a hack lawyer makes you a hack.
That being said, I in no way condone fraud, but I do believe that some of those individuals deserve a second chance.
Nikki g more then 24 hours in a day is per se fraud. Doing it 40 times is brazen.
Who are these thieves?
They were all pigs and will get removed.
Guys, your stealing makes me look bad.
I'm sure plenty of "special public defenders" milk the JAC all over Florida wherever they can.
As for the Miami lawyers recently accused of over-billing, it's old news. It was pointed out with David Peckins back in 2020, which is why the Barahona trial got delayed yet again. The latest spate of lawyers were allegedly billing 24 hours for one day, while Peckins was billing like 36 hours for one day.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article246960537.html
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