About Us

imageAbout Us
NALFA is the flagship organization for experts specializing in attorney fees and legal billing.  NALFA is a 501(c)(6) federal tax-exempt organization specializing in attorney fees and legal billing.  We are not affiliated with the defense or plaintiffs’ bar.  Our fee experts are the pioneers in advancing the attorney fee practice and leaders in shaping attorney fee jurisprudence.
       

FAQ’s

 

Why do I need an attorney fee expert?

For most attorney fee issues, representing attorneys (or their colleagues) can serve as experts.  But for large, complex attorney fee matters, a fee expert can provide the comprehensive, sophisticated, and meaningful analysis required to successfully support or challenge attorney fees in court, arbitration, or in settlement conference.  In addition, if the opposing side has retained a fee expert, you don’t his/her expert testimony to go unanswered.

What type of reports and opinions can your attorney fee experts provide?

Our fee experts can provide expert reports and opinions on, among other things: 

Reasonable, Prevailing Hourly Rates
Reasonableness of Hours Billed
Customary Law Firm Billing Practices
Billing Judgment
Amount at Stake in the Underlying Case vs. Amount of Legal Fees Spent
Novel, Complex, or Unusual Legal Issues in the Underlying Case
Successful Results Obtained for the Client
Skill, Experience, and Reputation of the Law Firm
Efficient Litigation Management Practices

What are some of the successes of NALFA members?

Some of the results include:

  • Attorney fee expert and NALFA member Brand Cooper identified nearly $2 million in unreasonable attorney fees and costs for non-prevailing defendants.  The California court agreed with Cooper’s analysis and cited his expert report and opinions several times in its ruling: “Cooper calculated that 2,798.7 hrs of the total 4,937.6 hours in the case were ‘block billing’.  That is nearly 57% of the time entries.  The court will apply an across-the-board 15% reduction in requested fees (after other deductions) based on this impediment to the reasonableness review.”
  • Attorney fee expert and NALFA member Ken Moscaret successfully testified to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that over $9 million in fees and costs was reasonable compensation for a major Los Angeles law firm involved in handling a large, complex underlying litigation.  Among his expert opinions, Mr. Moscaret emphasized that there was a rational cost-benefit relationship between the economic value at stake in the underlying litigation versus the legal fees expended.
  • Attorney fee expert and NALFA member Bruce Meckler testified (by sworn statement) regarding the reasonableness of legal fees and expenses incurred by Freeborn & Peters, LLP counsel for Brown & Brown, Inc., in Brown & Brown, Inc. v. M. Munawar Ali, Case No. 07 C 2893 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.  In rendering its decision on the reasonableness of the legal fees incurred, the Court substantially adopted Mr. Meckler’s opinions.