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Lawyer Suspended for Billing More Than 24 Hours in a Day

August 25, 2010 | Posted in : Billing Practices, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Fee Request

The ABA Journal story, “Ohio Lawyer Suspended for Billing More than 24 Hours in a Day” reports that Ohio lawyer Kristin Ann Stahlbush of Toledo has been suspended for two years for overbilling local courts for her representation of poor clients, submitting bills for more than 24 hours a day on three different occasions. 

According to the Ohio Supreme Court opinion (PDF), Stahlbush billed the courts in Lucas County for more than 24 hours a day three different days, and more than 20 hours a day on five other occasions.  The court said Stahlbash failed to keep adequate records of the hours worked, submitted inflated fee requests, and sometimes “merely guessed at the time she had spent on a case.”  She had no prior discipline, however, and was known as a competent and hard-working lawyer.