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Suit Alleging Overbilling Moves Forward

July 30, 2010 | Posted in : Billing Practices, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Fee Dispute, Fee Dispute Litigation / ADR, Hourly Rates

A recent law.com story, “Suit Challenging Bills From Constantine Cannon Goes Forward reports that the claim of a former client of Constantine Cannon that the law firm excessively billed for legal fees is moving forward.  Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead said that the family of Howard L. Parnes, a White Plaines, NY real estate executive had sufficiently pleaded that it had been overcharged, demanding that nearly $628,000 in “improperly earned” fees be returned.  The Parnes family hired Constantine to assist in managing the family’s assets after amassing a fortune in real estate. 

According to the judge’s opinion in Constantine Cannon LLP v. Parnes, the family alleged “several, specific examples” of unnecessary and duplicative work, but said it paid Constantine the fees before realizing the law firm “had vastly overcharged for its services”.  The Parnes family claimed Constantine Cannon charged it for unnecessary, duplicative work charging “lawyer prices” for work that could be done by nonlawyers.  For example, the Parneses said a Constantine associate spent more than eight hours preparing an IRS document, billing $300 an hour.  The Parneses argued that an accounting clerk could have done that “for a small fraction” of the charge.