Ethical billing in the context of the billable hour must be both an aspiration and a realization in attorney/client best practices. The demise of the billable hour has long been predicted though it remains alive, if not entirely well. Here the billable hour is examined using the reasonableness test in varied practice settings in exploring means of voiding the concept of oxymoronic.
DVD Supplemental Information
Title: Ethical Billing and the Billable Hour – Oxymoronic?
Instructor: Dr. William Brown, Ph. D.
Presenters: Dr. William Brown, Ph. D. and James R. Wrenn, Jr., J.D.
Description: Ethical billing in the context of the billable hour must be both an aspiration and a realization in attorney/client best practices. The demise of the billable hour has long been predicted though it remains alive, if not entirely well. Here the billable hour is examined using the reasonableness test in varied practice settings in exploring means of voiding the concept of oxymoronic.
Credit Hours: 1 CLE Hour (Ethics, Dual, General) depending upon jurisdiction
*Note - DVD's are not preapproved for CLE. Written materials are provided as a url link on the cover of the DVD. TRT, Inc. does provide documentation following the written materials, for you to submit to your state bar for approval.
Materials: Cases, opinions, and articles relating to seminar topic, plus appropriate correlating selections from –
The Ethics of Legal Ethics (Vol. I)
William D. Brown, Ph.D.
Washington: The Wayne Smith Company, 1995
Board of Directors – Corporate Governance Lapdog or Watchdog?
William D. Brown, Ph.D.
Leesburg, VA: Wycliff Publishers, 2007
Dissemination: DVD
Seminar Content:
.50 hr. The billable hour - an ethical construct
Weighed against MR 1.5
Applying 8 determinants (MR 1.5(b))
Reducing billables for 1st year associates a help
Chief beneficiaries - clients or practitioners?
.50 hr. Applying ethics reasonableness test to billable hour
Lodestar = hourly rate x reasonable hours
Fee awards 42 U.S.C. §§1988 and 2000e-5(k)
Hourly fee suffers in Lee v. American Eagle Airlines Inc., S.D. Fla., (3/15/00)
Further questions re. reasonableness of billable hour (Vanderbilt Law Journal, Schlitz),
etc.
_____
1.0 hrs. = Total CLE Credit
Presenter:
William D. Brown, Ph.D.
wdb@trtcle.com
Education
Ph.D. - Florida State University
M.Th. - Texas Christian University
B.D. - Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University
B.A. - Lynchburg College
Positions
Chairman and presenter, TRT, Inc.
President, The Ethics Institute
Private Practice (Clinical Psychology)
Academic Appointments
Chair, Dept. of Family Psychology and Community Development, University of Maryland
Department Head, Dept. of Child Development & Family Relations, and Associate
Professor, Human Factors Research Laboratory, Colorado State University
Professor of Family Life, Stephens College
Instructor (Psychology), United States Armed Forces Institute
Publishing/Writing
Board of Directors – Lapdog or Watchdog?, Leesburg, VA: Wycliff Publishers, 2007
The Ethics of Legal Ethics (Vol. 1), Washington: The Wayne Smith Company, 1995
The Right Thing: ethics inaction/ethics in action, Washington: The Wayne Smith Company,
1991
Welcome Stress! It Can Help You be Your Best, Minneapolis: CompCare Publishing Co.,
1983
Families Under Stress, Washington: Prentice Hall (Brady Division), 1977
Affiliations
American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility
American Psychological Association
Potpourri
Married to Nett Brown
Two children
Seven grandchildren
Veteran, United States Navy (Submarines)
Presenter:
James R. Wrenn, Jr., J.D.
jwrenn@wrennlaw.com
Education
J.D. - University of Virginia Law School (1971)
B.A. - (History) University of Richmond (1968)
Bar Membership
Virginia State Bar: Member since 1972
Admission to Practice
Virginia Supreme Court & all inferior courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia
US District Courts for Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Positions
Virginia State Bar Counsel (1976-1977)
Virginia State Bar Special Counsel (1972-1976)
Private Practice since 1977
Academic Appointments
Adjunct Instructor on Legal Ethics, University of Richmond Law School (1978-1980)
Adjunct Professor, School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University (1975-1977)
Publishing/Writing/Lecturing
Author/Lecturer (pro bono) for seminars and publications by pro-bono CLE organizations and bar associations (continually since 1975)
Author/Lecturer VLR Seminars (1986-1975) Recent Case-Law; Professional Responsibility Issues
Editor of Virginia Law Reports (VLR) (formerly VRR) (private reporting service for appellate case-law in Virginia) (1981-1995)
Affiliations
President, National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) 1976
Virginia Sate Bar (participation on various committees not listed)
Potpourri
Major Fields of Interest: Lawyer discipline, legal ethics, reinstatement, judicial ethics, Judicial Inquiry & Review, Commission matters, expert-witness issues.
