WHAT AM I PAYING FOR? – Several general counsel and senior in-house lawyers are demanding that law firms break down their bills properly for clients, stressing that estimated totals are becoming intolerable, Law.com International’s Varsha Patel reports. Billing has long been a point of contention in the GC-law firm relationship. In April, several GCs expressed frustration at “astronomical” fees, with some being billed more than double what they were around a year ago. As she prepares to kick off the company’s first legal panel in 2022, healthcare company Pharmanovia’s general counsel, Neeshe Williams, said that hazy billing had become her biggest frustration with law firms. Describing an instance where a large law firm billed her “without any explanation” or a break down, Williams, who prior to becoming GC at Pharmanovia in 2015 was group legal counsel at telecommunications company Hutchison Whampoa, said: “You just get a bill every year and the firm won’t tell you what it’s for,” adding that it leads to plenty of back and forth on the matter.
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