Legal fee analysis is the comprehensive review and analysis of attorney fees and costs by an outside party in a legal matter. Professionals who routinely perform outside legal fee analysis include attorney fee experts, special fee masters, bankruptcy fee examiners, fee dispute mediators, and legal bill auditors. Once known as legal auditing, a rather groundless, self-qualifying, and haphazard field, legal fee analysis has now matured and expanded into a new fully developed practice area of law, thanks in part to organization and professionalization.
Any new field of analysis, let alone one that deals with the sometimes contentious aspects of legal fees, requires some manner of professional ethics. Emerging professions, like legal fee analysis must be grounded by some degree of qualification and some elements of generally accepted principles. Indeed, professional standards can help ensure that professionals within a given field are qualified, competent, and ethical.
As part of our mission, NALFA has established Best Practices in Legal Fee Analysis. This professional code of conduct was developed over several years with input and consensus from thought leaders from across the profession. These peer review driven standards strengthen the legal fee analysis profession by ensuring integrity in the process and reliability in the results. These best practice measures promote values such as ethics, independence, and professional development. These best practice measures represent the mainstream of legal fee analysis.
As a 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(6) organization, NALFA's statutory obligation is to improve the lines of business within the legal fee analysis profession. Yet some old vestiges from the legal auditing era still remain. As such, we encourage all professionals who routinely review and analyze outside legal fees or legal billing entries to read, understand, and follow Best Practices in Legal Fee Analysis. Following these best practice measures only strengthens your standing within the legal fee analysis community. We'd also encourage clients of outside legal fee analysis to choose a professional who follows Best Practices in Legal Fee Analysis.
For more on Best Practices in Legal Fee Analysis, visit http://www.thenalfa.org/Best-Practices/