Analysis of Law Partners itemised bill: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:29, 29 December 2023

This short analysis of the Law Partners itemised bill as a part of the problem of exaggerated legal fees. I went through only part of it.

Itemised bill has 26 items. I am checking all items one by one to see what they are really charging for. The analysis is based on the information that I have. If I find any additional information, I will update this fee analysis. These fees seem exceptionally unfair, and it feels like a part of scam (I can find a better word for it). I will write additional information about the pain and suffering it caused me. However, for this I will need help from a psychologist and other supporting people.

Summary

Charge for all phone calls and emails twice: as part of other items and additionally individually just calls or correspondence, even if by the contract they were already covered by other items and should not be charged additionally (items: 1, 2, 3, 5).
Charge for the tasks they have not performed, but simply asked the client to provide final information (item 4).
I had a look at 34 general communication items: 7 have no correspondence, 6 were just notifications of appointments, for notification of one appointment with Dr Khan they charge 4 times. None of them should have been charged based on the contract.
There were items like reminding about missing attachment to email, extra 2 items charged.
They made 2 mathematical errors and charge extra $3,210.01.

Itemised bill analysis

Table

Note:

italic - text from Law Partners itemised bill
bold italic - text from Law Partners contract.

Item. Fee code

Description

Bill Amount

Corrected Amount

1. B

Telephone Attendances (10 @ $50.00)
To/From Client:, 30/05/18, 14/06/18, 27/09/18, 12/03/19, 3/05/19, 29/10/19, 30/10/19, 4/02/20, 8/05/20 (x2),

500.00

0

B - from contract

Telephone attendance. Each telephone attendance not directly related to other items in this schedule.

Data

Dr Stonis calls history.

Date	Duration	Type
2018-05-30		no record found
2018-06-14		no record found
2018-09-27	38s	Outgoing
2019-03-12	6m 17s	Outgoing
2019-05-03	6m 29s	Outgoing
2019-10-29	4m 0s	Outgoing
2019-10-30	1m 34s	Outgoing
2020-02-04	5m 34s	Outgoing
2020-05-08	1m 23s	Outgoing

               Total 25m 55s.

Analysis

All calls are directly related to other items and should not be duplicated here.
There is only 1 call in call history on 2020-05-08.

2. B

Telephone Attendances (10 @ $50.00)
To/From third parties: 26/04/18, 30/05/18, 18/07/18, 23/07/18, 15/08/18, 26/11/18, 10/01/19, 25/10/19, 13/11/19, 7/01/20

500.00

0

Analysis

There are no records of these calls being made.
All Law Partners activities related to the claim are covered by other items. If some calls were made they should be covered by other items from the fees list.

3. B

Telephone Attendances (5 @ $50.00)
To/From McInnes Wilson Lawyers: 29/1/20 (x2), 17/03/20, 6/05/20 (x2)

250.00

0

Analysis

There are no records of these calls being made.
All Law Partners activities related to the claim are covered by other items. If some calls were made they should be covered by other items from the fees list.

4. F

Centrelink (Repayment) Estimate (1 @ $90.00): 22/10/19

90.00

0

F - from contract

Centrelink (repayment estimate). All activities required to obtain repayment / payback estimate from Centrelink (including, for example, correspondence, completion of estimate forms, telephone attendances and advice to you).

Analysis

The estimate and amount received was provided to Gillian Potts.
There is no record of any estimate done by Potts.

5. G

General Correspondence: (132 @ $180.00)
To/from Client: 16/04/18, 28/04/18, 1/05/18, 7/05/18, 10/05/18, 15/5/18 (x2), 30/05/18, 6/06/18, 11/06/18, 14/06/18, 17/06/18, 18/06/18, 5/07/18, 9/07/18, 10/07/18, 18/07/18 (x2), 19/07/18, 26/07/18, 3/8/18 (x2), 4/09/18 (x2), 2/10/18, 4/10/18, 11/10/18, 26/11/18, 29/11/18, 17/12/18, 8/01/19, 17/01/19, 9/03/19, 12/03/19, 16/03/19 (x2), 18/03/19, 25/03/19, 28/03/19, 3/04/19 (x2), 17/04/19 (x2), 18/04/18 (x4), 21/04/19, 22/04/19(x2), 23/04/19, 24/04/19, 28/04/19, 29/04/19 (x5), 30/04/19 (x4), 2/05/19, 22/05/19 (x2), 8/07/19, 9/07/19 (x3), 11/07/19, 18/07/19 (x2), 20/08/19, 26/08/19, 25/09/19, 30/809/19, 1/10/19 (x2), 2/10/19 (x2), 3/10/19 (x2), 4/10/19, 8/10/19, 14/10/19, 17/10/19, 24/10/19 (x2), 27/10/19, 25/10/19, 27/10/19 (x2), 28/10/19, 29/10/19 (x2), 30/10/19, 4/11/19, 6/11/19, 9/12/19, 17/12/19, 19/12/19 (x2), 26/12/19, 8/01/20, 9/01/20, 20/01/20, 4/02/20, 5/02/20, 2/03/20, 3/03/20, 17/03/20, 18/03/20, 20/03/20, 14/04/20, 23/04/20 (x2), 24/04/20, 28/04/20 (x2), 29/04/20 (x2), 6/05/20 (x3), 7/05/20 (x3), 8/05/20 (x3), 11/05/20

23,760.00

0

G - from contract

General correspondence. Drafting, reviewing and finalising each general incoming and outgoing correspondence not directly related to other items in this schedule.

Data

Dr Stonis email history.

Sent, Received

Date	Sent / Received	Brief description	Related item
2018-04-16	-	there were no emails on this day
2018-04-28	Sent	Short list of injuries for Alfonsas Stonis case	Intended for items 30 and 33. Law Partners did not pass this information to MAS or doctors.
2018-05-07 (2018-05-01?)	not found	Potts asking for a list of treating doctors	Item 9
2018-05-10	Sent	Email with Steve Sutton contacts and suggesting that Sutton can write a report.	Item 17
2018-05-15 08:32	Received	Confirmation that Steve Sutton contacts received, but she will ask only for the clinical notes.	Item 17
2018-05-15 17:54	Sent	Signed Authority to Release Information.	Items 4, 8, 9
2018-05-31	Received	Note about an appointment with Potts and Pryde.	Item 25
2018-06-05 2018-06-06	Sent	Filled Medicare service forms and unanswered question about it.	Item 8
2018-06-11	Sent	List of household tasks Juste helps me with.	Items 18, 28, 33. Law Partners did not pass this information to MAS or doctors.
2018-06-14	Received	Request for information about loss of income.	Item 18.
2018-06-17	Sent	Question about medical dental treatment and information about effects on drop of hygiene.	Intended for items 27, 28, 32, 33. Low partners did not create following items and failed to include in others.
2018-06-18	Received	Short reply to question about medical dental treatment to keep records.	Intended for items 27, 28, 32, 33. Low partners did not create following items and failed to include in others.
2018-07-05 (duplicate on 2018-07-10)	Received	Note about appointment with Dr Khan.	Item 33.
2018-07-09	-	there were no emails on this day
2018-07-10 (duplicate of 2018-07-05)	Received	Note about appointment with Dr Khan.	Item 33.
2018-07-18	Sent, Received	Notice and reply about travelling overseas for a month.	It does not require actions listed in contract (drafting, reviewing and finalising).
2018-07-19	-	there were no emails on this day
2018-07-26	-	there were no emails on this day
2018-08-03	Sent, Received	Question: should psychologist Sutton send his clinical notes to QBE. Answer: Potts will have a look at it.	Item 17
2018-09-04	Sent, Received	Simple question about including dental treatment in economic loss. Answer: to provide more info and if there was damage sustained during the injury.	Items 18, 32. It was not included in one and another was not prepared. This also was a simple question, that did not require actions listed for G category.
2018-10-02 (2018-07-05, 2018-07-10)	Received	Time change for appointment with Dr Khan	Item 33
2018-10-04	-	there were no emails on this day
2018-10-11 (2018-07-05, 2018-07-10, 2018-10-02)	Sent	Reply to time change for appointment with Dr Khan	Item 33
2018-11-26	Received	Asking for contacts supplied on 2018-09-04.	Intended for items 18, 27, 28, 32, 33. Low partners did not create following items and failed to include in others.
2018-11-29	Sent	Re to 2018-11-26. Info on dental treatment.	Intended for items 18, 27, 28, 32, 33. Low partners did not create following items and failed to include in others.
2018-12-17	-	there were no emails on this day
2019-01-08	Received	Letter from Pryde saying that he had a look at clinical notes and Dr Khan report.	Items 17, 25, 33
2019-01-17 (email date 2019-01-14)	Received	Note about appointment with Dr Roberts.	Item 33
2019-03-09	Sent	Medicare form.	Item 8.
2019-03-12	Received	Re Medicare form.	Item 8.
2019-03-16	Sent, Received	List of GP visited before injury and confirmation of email received.	Item 8, 9.
2019-03-18	Sent	Informing about upcoming travel overseas.	It does not require actions listed in contract (drafting, reviewing and finalising).
2019-03-25	-	Appointment notification, same notification on 2019-04-03.	Item 27.
2019-03-28	Received	Copy of Dr Roberts report.	Item 33.
2019-04-03 (x2)	Received	Confirmation of appointment. The whole content in both emails: "Thank you I have received it. I will be there." and "Thank you for confirming you will be attending the conference with myself and Mr Pryde on 16 April 2019. We look forward to seeing you."	Item 27.
2019-04-17 (x2)	Sent	Suggestion to get report from SS instead of notes. Confirmation that Law Partners wants only notes.	Item 9.
2019-04-18 (x3 and one on 2019-04-21)	Received, Sent	Request of information for statement and information was provided.	Item 24.
2019-04-21	Received	Out of office - auto-reply to cc.
2019-04-22 (x2)	Sent	Information for statement.	Item 24.
2019-04-23	Sent	Information for statement about project before the injury.	Item 24.
2019-04-23	Sent	Information for statement about project before the injury.	Item 24.
2019-04-24	Sent	Information for statement that can not get statement from reqruiter I have met before the injury.	Item 24.
2019-04-28	Sent	CV to add to statement.	Item 24.
2019-04-29 (x2)	Sent	CV to add to statement. Forgot to attach file in previous email.	Item 24.
2019-04-29 (x2)	Received and Sent	Juste statement.	Item 21.
2019-04-29	Received	Claimant statement.	Item 24.
2019-04-30 (x4)	Sent and Received	Claimant statement including confirmation that statement received. This is trivial communication sending draft statement and getting it back signed. Law Partners together with previous emails include it 6 times.	Item 24.
2019-05-02	Sent	Unanswered question about medicare.	No work done (item 8).
2019-05-02 (x2)	Sent and received	Notification of going overseas and question about next events. Reply, that application for Medical Assessment Services (MAS) has been submitted and they will make an appointment for assessment.	Item 28.
2019-07-08, 2019-07-09 (x3), 2017-07-11, 2019-08-20, 2019-08-26	Received and sent.	5 emails of notification of MAS appointment with one change of the appointment date.	Item 28.
2019-09-25	-	There were no emails on this day. Might be a duplicate of email on 2019-09-30.
2019-09-30	Received	Notification of appointment on 2019-10-22.
2019-10-01	-	There is only one email this day. There is out of office auto-reply to CC next day. Maybe they are charging for it.
2019-10-01, 2019-10-02 (x2), 2019-10-03 (x2), 2019-10-04	Sent, Received.	Asking for review of assessment with indication of errors in it. Potts mostly ignored emails and did nothing. She replied once and wrote that she is out of office and will try to give a call, but will discuss it in person on 22 October.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-08	-	No emails this day.
2019-10-14	Sent	Centrelink payments.	Item 4.
2019-10-17	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-24 (x2)	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-27	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-25	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-27 (x2)	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-28	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-29 (x2)	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.
2019-10-30	Sent	List of errors in medical assessment.	Items 28, 29.

       Total $0.

Left to review: 24/10/19 (x2), 27/10/19, 25/10/19, 27/10/19 (x2), 28/10/19, 29/10/19 (x2), 30/10/19, 4/11/19, 6/11/19, 9/12/19, 17/12/19, 19/12/19 (x2), 26/12/19, 8/01/20, 9/01/20, 20/01/20, 4/02/20, 5/02/20, 2/03/20, 3/03/20, 17/03/20, 18/03/20, 20/03/20, 14/04/20, 23/04/20 (x2), 24/04/20, 28/04/20 (x2), 29/04/20 (x2), 6/05/20 (x3), 7/05/20 (x3), 8/05/20 (x3), 11/05/20

Analysis

I had a look at 41 general communication items. None of them should have been charge based on the contract:

7 have no correspondence;
9+2+5+2 were just notifications of appointment, for notification of appointment with Dr Khan they charge 4 times; for MAS appointment 7+2 emails in total
2 Out of office - auto-reply.
The rest are part of tasks performed for other items.

Sum

In summary after the table Law Partners wrote:

 PROFESSIONAL COSTS            $130,490.00
 GST                           $13,049.00
 PROFESSIONAL COSTS (incl GST) $145,539.00

It should be $143,539.00. They are charging $2000.00 too much.

Disbursements

Incorrectly calculated disbursements
Date	Name	Bill sum	Receipt sum	Receipt GST
2018-09-05	CP – clinical notes	93.64	103	9.36
2018-09-05	FP – clinical notes	313.64	345	31
2018-06-13	RP – clinical notes	30	33	3
2018-07-31	FP – clinical notes	57	62.7	5.7
2018-08-15	SS – clinical notes	35	35	0
2018-12-28	SK – medical report fee	1605.01	1765.51	160.5
2019-02-19	JW – clinical notes	54.55	60	0
2019-02-27	JR – medical report fee	1640	1804	164
2020-09-01	SS – medical report fee	750	750	0
2020-06-05	Mr Ken Pryde – counsel fees	25300	26620	2420
	Bill (GST 2908.38)	29878.84
	Total (bill inc. GST)	32788.22	31578.21	2793.56

Law Partners charging in their bill $1,210.01 more than shown in bills.

Medical related disbursements are only $4,958.21.

Even according to their itemised bill due to mathematical errors Law Partners are charging $3,210.01 too much.

Emotional impact

Exaggeration of the cost by Law Partners goes beyond any expectations. I would never expect that lawyers would do such thing so brutally (I believe that correctness of costs is protected by law somehow). They double charge for most of the activities (that I have checked so far) even if it can be proven to be wrong by checking the contract. However, it feels that they seem so convinced that they will get away with it that they do not bother about it. Such activity (I believe is criminal, but again I am not a lawyer, and I will try to find it out) might seem strange, but you have to take into account that they know that I have PTSD and I am not able to deal with these things. Anything related to injury causes panic attacks and my brain shutting down. I was re-traumatised by this injustice. I think that was exactly their purpose. This is why they went to such absurd false claims. I will not be able to defend myself if they manage to cause me to be completely overwhelmed and not be able to cope. And their plan worked. They did cause significant damage. I am going through their bill only after 3 years of intense therapy and still struggling to cope with it. Unfortunately, I have spent several months just on this bill as it is so unfair and stressful. I am stuck with it: cannot get it out of my mind and cannot deal with it. I hope to figure it out one day. I will write about my experience.