Legal Marketing & PR

Notice of Unavailability

By Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC

Someone asked what I think of an attorney charging a client for work done while he/she is on vacation?

The comment, specifically, was:  "Attorneys do need a vacation... what do you think about attorneys that (sic) file Notice of Unavailability and charge clients for work performed while on there (sic) vacation."

Wherever and whenever an attorney performs legal services, he/she should be able to charge for the work done so long as it is in compliance with the engagement agreement. There is normally no exception for work done for clients while on vacation or after "normal" business hours. So I don't see any problem here, unless there is a subsidiary inference that the attorney is not truly working or working at a slower pace than would have been the case if he/she were elsewhere.

As an additional point, I believe (as I've said quite some time ago) that the attorney has the right to charge the client for preparing and filing (and even appearing in court thereon) the Notice of Unavailability. But for the notice, the attorney might have to spend much more time defending against notices/motions if the adversary takes advantage of the attorney's absence on vacation ...

Full post as published by Law Biz Blog on August 12, 2008 (boomark / email).