Ah, but knowing which material to plagiarize — that’s the skill the client is really paying for, right? But an Iowa court wasn’t pleased with West Des Moines lawyer Peter Cannon’s conduct, and ordered him to surrender fees and take an ethics course. (TaxProf, Sept. 10).
Bills client $5,700 for brief copied off Internet
Ah, but knowing which material to plagiarize — that’s the skill the client is really paying for, right? But an Iowa court wasn’t pleased with West Des Moines lawyer Peter Cannon’s conduct, and ordered him to surrender fees and take an ethics course. (TaxProf, Sept. 10).
3 Comments
I volunteer to be the first to shoot the fish in this barrel:
Would this ethics course teach him NOT to do this, or how to do it ethically?
That was only one line of many, I’m sure.
I understand that he borrowed the work of others, but then he charged over 25 hours for it. Why is this not fraud? I am always amazed at this whole idea of billable hours. 25 hours would be all working hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday without time for lunch, phone calls or other breaks.
I am astounded that the discipline was not greater — like lengthy suspension or disbarment.
It was indeed a fraud. Billing a client for time that was not in fact spent on the work with the expectation that the bill will be paid…oh wait…
…isn’t this the biggest dirty little secret in every major law firm in the U.S.? Haven’t we heard “jokes” about which client will be billed for the reading of today’s Wall Street Journal?