Creating incident-to billing policies requires extensive research across ABA guidelines, state bar regulations, and healthcare compliance standards. Attorneys spend hours manually compiling best practices, verifying citations, and ensuring ethical compliance while balancing documentation requirements with practical implementation needs.
Law firms struggle to create comprehensive incident-to billing policies that satisfy ethical requirements while providing practical operational guidance. Manual policy drafting requires extensive research of professional responsibility rules, jurisdiction-specific requirements, and best practices—consuming 12+ hours of attorney time. Without clear policies, firms risk ethics complaints, fee disputes, and inconsistent billing practices that undermine client trust.
CaseMark automates the creation of sophisticated, jurisdiction-specific incident-to billing policies tailored to your firm's structure and practice areas. Our AI analyzes your existing documents, incorporates relevant ethical rules and supervision standards, and generates implementation-ready policies with operational workflows, compliance checkpoints, and practical tools—in just 15 minutes.
This workflow is applicable across multiple practice areas and use cases
Litigation firms need compliant incident-to billing policies for paralegal and support staff work billed to clients, ensuring ethical compliance with court rules and bar requirements.
All litigation practices bill paralegal time and must comply with ABA Model Rules and state-specific ethical guidelines for supervision and billing of non-attorney work.
Corporate law firms extensively use paralegals for entity formation, compliance filings, and transactional support, requiring clear incident-to billing policies for client billing.
Corporate practices rely heavily on paralegal staff for routine corporate work and need documented policies to ensure ethical billing compliance and client transparency.
Transactional practices bill significant paralegal time for document preparation, due diligence, and closing coordination, requiring compliant incident-to billing frameworks.
Transactional work involves substantial non-attorney professional time that must be properly supervised and billed according to ethical guidelines and engagement terms.
Regulatory practices utilize paralegals for compliance monitoring, filing preparation, and regulatory research, necessitating clear billing policies for non-attorney work.
Regulatory compliance work often involves paralegal support for routine filings and monitoring, requiring documented policies to ensure proper supervision and ethical billing.
Incident-to billing refers to the practice of billing clients for work performed by supervised personnel (paralegals, legal assistants, law clerks, or junior associates) under attorney direction. To be ethically compliant, this work must be directly related to client representation, performed under adequate attorney supervision, properly disclosed in engagement agreements, and billed at appropriate rates that differ from attorney rates. The supervising attorney maintains ultimate professional responsibility for the work quality.
Adequate supervision requires that the attorney possess sufficient expertise to provide meaningful guidance, conduct initial consultation explaining the task and standards, remain available during performance for questions and guidance, and thoroughly review all work product before finalization. The attorney must verify accuracy, make necessary corrections, and approve the work before client delivery. Documentation of this supervision process is essential for compliance verification.
Clerical and administrative tasks like filing, copying, and scheduling can never be billed to clients regardless of who performs them. Services constituting the practice of law—including providing legal advice, making strategic decisions, negotiating settlements, appearing in court, and signing court documents—must be performed exclusively by licensed attorneys. Work performed without adequate supervision also cannot be billed even if the task type would otherwise qualify.
Engagement letters should explicitly state that supervised personnel may perform work on the matter, identify personnel categories and their respective billing rates, and explain supervision and quality control measures. Invoices should provide sufficient detail for clients to understand what work was performed and by whom, either through itemized entries identifying the personnel or clear task descriptions. Transparency in both fee agreements and billing statements is essential for ethical compliance and client trust.
Yes, states have varying requirements for paralegal qualifications, permissible delegated tasks, supervision intensity, disclosure obligations, and billing rate restrictions. Some jurisdictions require specific paralegal certifications or education, while others have issued ethics opinions limiting certain activities to licensed attorneys. Firms practicing in multiple states must comply with each jurisdiction's specific rules, making jurisdiction-specific policy guidance essential for multi-state practices.