Top Billing Tips Family: DO's
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Top Billing Tips Family:
DO’s
Obtain all possible authorizations from the district office before starting
your on-line account. This supports the application of the correct tariff and
reduces delays. LSP will only pay up to the maximum tariff and will ask you to
seek additional authorizations before considering discretion
If there are multiple contested issues, seek all the authorizations for those
issues right away, and also seek subsequent pre-trial authorization, so
you have as much tariff time as possible. In child protection matters, do
not proceed with only a two-hour opinion certificate; obtain the applicable
supervision order or wardship authorization.
Correctly check-off “Discretion Requested” when requesting discretion.
If the discretion box is not checked off, the system reads the account as no
discretion requested. The account is paid to the tariff maximum and not
directed to LSP to consider further. The system does not read if a discretion
letter is attached, only if the Discretion Requested box is checked-off.
Only check “Discretion Requested” if you are requesting discretion. Doing so
otherwise, may create delays in payment of the account.
Use the Request Discretion – Family form available on the website. The
form helps focus your request to the clarified discretion guidelines. If your
request does not address or meet the guidelines discretion will not be
approved for payment. The payment message is: 425: The clarified discretion
criteria for exceptional circumstances have not been met. If you are
dissatisfied with the disposition of this account you may apply in writing within
60 days for a review of the settlement.
LAO Billing Tips – August 2013 Page 1 Bill court days correctly. The system automatically adds the first billed court
day. For the first account, the number of court days entered is actual days
less 1 day. For subsequent accounts, the number of courts days entered is
actual court days. Also remember to enter court hours.
o Example: Account 1: attend 3 court days, enter 2 days, 15 hrs
Account 2: attend 2 court days, enter 2 days, 8 hrs
Provide details for court attendance. The more detailed the dockets, the
better. Specify what services were provided. Vague descriptions of services
provided, or boiler plate dockets such as “trial prep” or “letter to counsel” are
not sufficient.
ALWAYS indicate the exact nature of each court appearance, ie. motion,
settlement conference, pre-trial etc. Some appearances generate
additional tariff hours and some do not. It is especially important in child
protection matters to indicate if the court attendance is a temporary care
hearing, a “to be spoken to” appearance, a case conference or a summary
judgment motion, etc.
Bill on time. Not meeting deadlines delays payment and may result in
accounts not being paid. Deadlines are 1 year from each anniversary date of
the certificate issue date, plus 6 months:
o Example:
Certificate issued Feb 5, 2011 1st deadline = August 5/12
2nd deadline = August 5/13
3rd deadline = August 5/14, etc.
o For tips on meeting the billing deadlines see:
http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/info/tips_billingdeadlinesforcertaccounts.a
sp
Bill correspondence at 0.1 hrs per letter. “cc’ing” letters to multiple parties
should not be billed as multiple letters, such as in cases where you are
sending the same letter to Society counsel, OCL counsel and Parent’s
counsel. If your letter is detailed, and includes a settlement proposal or an
access schedule, or perhaps a list of requested disclosure, obviously it will
take more than 0.1 hrs to prepare or to review, but we need to have that detail
in your dockets.
Record travel time as Authorization and as Allocation: Travel time must
be entered in two locations in the on-line account for it to be matched and
paid by the system. Travel must also be itemized by date, location and hours
in your docket. Stating “Travel 12 hours” total is not sufficient to support
payment.
LAO Billing Tips – August 2013 Page 2 Get a Mid-Case Management (MCM) budget if appropriate. Discretionary
payments are not the same as a having a pre-approved budget.
Attach private dockets.
Attach Assignment of Judgement Debtor and cost orders if funds are not
held in trust.
DON’Ts
Don’t submit accounts for unapproved disbursements. Always obtain
pre-approval from LSP and submit invoices. Billing unapproved
disbursements will result in the account not matching and the expenditure
being denied for payment. See the Disbursement Handbook for all
disbursements requiring pre-approval.
http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/info/manuals/disbursements%20handbook.pdf
Section 54 of the Child and Family Services Act covers many
assessments, tests, and reports. Counsel should always attempt to obtain
a s. 54 order for such things as drug tests, paternity testing and parenting
capacity tests before seeking disbursement authorization.
Always attach invoices.
LAO Billing Tips – August 2013 Page 3 Don’t bill for ongoing services after date of cancellation or termination.
LSP cannot pay for ongoing services after cancellation or termination.
Contact the district office to resolve the cancellation or termination of a
certificate.
Don’t include motions, adjournments, first appearances and TBST
attendances as subsequent pre-trial attendances. This artificially inflates
your tariff allotment and will cause difficulty in having your accounts paid. It
may also result in post-payment examination claw-backs.
How Pay-to-Max works:
Most accounts submitted are matched and paid by the system as being
within tariff. Payment is scheduled for the pay cycle in 21 + days of the
account being received.
If discretion is requested, and the account is for hours in excess of tariff,
the system runs a Pay-to-Max cycle once a week.
If there are no other exception reasons (e.g. late billed, disbursements
private retainer, billed after cancellation, etc), the system will process the
maximum tariff portion of the account for payment.
If discretion is requested (Request Discretion checked off) the payment
message is: 411: Your account was paid up to the tariff maximum with the
remaining discretionary portion under consideration. The discretionary
portion will be processed within 60 days.
If the tariff portion is 0 hrs, the payment of fees will be $0. This does not
mean discretion is denied. The balance of the account is assigned to LSP
staff and the discretionary portion of the account will be processed.
If discretion is not requested, the payment message is: 410: Your account
was paid up to the tariff maximum as no request for a discretionary
increase was sought. Legal Aid may consider a request for a discretionary
increase if you send a written request plus detailed dockets within 60
days. See Tariff, pages 2-19 to 2-20
Nothing is assigned to LSP staff to consider as the system considers the
account paid in full.
LAO Billing Tips – August 2013 Page 4DOCKETING TIPS: Make sure your dates of service correspond with the dates of your dockets. Dockets should always be chronological, and should always include times of day for all services above 0.5 hours. Don’t include your waiting time at court in your court attendance time unless that time was spent negotiating etc. and if so, detail this in your dockets. Court always recesses for at least 1 hour for the lunch break. We will deduct at least ½ hour from your court time if you do not account for this. If you work through lunch negotiating or preparing documents, detail this in your dockets. Don’t bill for travel time to and from court unless you have travel authorization. Dockets should always be in hourly form, not in minute form (i.e. “0.2 hrs” as opposed to “10 min”) The acknowledgement fee for certificates is automatically calculated. DON’T include it in your dockets. Don’t bill for voicemail messages, sent or received, or for phone calls where no answer is received, or where there is a busy signal, or the voicemail is full. Don’t bill your time for instructing staff and clerks, and then have your clerk and staff bill for receiving instructions. Don’t bill for reviewing documents that your clerk has also billed for reviewing. Don’t bill more than 0.2 hrs for Affidavits of Service and Confirmation Forms. These are basically fill-in-the-blank documents and are not complex. LAO Billing Tips – August 2013 Page 5
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