- Joined
- Aug 31, 2002
- Messages
- 5,374
- Reaction score
- 0
Lawyer sends bill for 81-hour day
A lawyer in Pennsylvania who submitted bills for an 81-hour day and three 25-hour days says he made "innocent mistakes."
Attorney Barry Van Rensler made ã265,000 representing a local education authority in one year.
The figures were discovered when the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper looked into his earnings.
He has since returned ã12,000 to the Upper Darby School District. "I love the school district, and I would never intentionally overcharge them," Mr Van Rensler told the paper.
Mr Van Rensler, who charges ã88 an hour, said the questionable billings were innocent mistakes involving misplaced decimals.
In one case, he said he billed the district for 75 hours of work instead of 0.75 of an hour, for a 45-minute conference on a property-tax appeal.
His bill was ã6,600 instead of ã66, according to the newspaper's review. Education officials said they hadn't noticed anything unusual about Mr Van Rensler's invoices before the newspaper's investigation and said they didn't believe the errors were intentional.
é Associated Press
A lawyer in Pennsylvania who submitted bills for an 81-hour day and three 25-hour days says he made "innocent mistakes."
Attorney Barry Van Rensler made ã265,000 representing a local education authority in one year.
The figures were discovered when the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper looked into his earnings.
He has since returned ã12,000 to the Upper Darby School District. "I love the school district, and I would never intentionally overcharge them," Mr Van Rensler told the paper.
Mr Van Rensler, who charges ã88 an hour, said the questionable billings were innocent mistakes involving misplaced decimals.
In one case, he said he billed the district for 75 hours of work instead of 0.75 of an hour, for a 45-minute conference on a property-tax appeal.
His bill was ã6,600 instead of ã66, according to the newspaper's review. Education officials said they hadn't noticed anything unusual about Mr Van Rensler's invoices before the newspaper's investigation and said they didn't believe the errors were intentional.
é Associated Press
