Legal fee auditing helps find out if that huge legal bill is really what you owe. However, it's not something that companies arrange for lightly. If a bill is so large that the company feels it needs to go through an audit, then chances are something will turn up. However, that "something" isn't always the result of fraudulent billing, even though the word "audit" might imply that something was deliberately hidden.

If the audit turns up an overcharge, it could be due to several reasons.

There Was a True Clerical or Math Error

It's possible that the error was a true error. Someone forgot a decimal point, or they mistakenly billed you twice because two people were doing the billing and not communicating well. Someone might've multiplied instead of added—you get the idea. These errors tend to be logical; the overcharged amount typically will match other amounts, such as finding an extra $10,000 because a $10,000 charge was accidentally added twice. This isn't always the case, but it's something to look for right off the bat when you find an overcharge. It's annoying, but not something to be that angry about unless it keeps happening.

Someone Got Careless but Wasn't Necessarily Malicious

It's also possible that someone was careless, and if you're finding those math errors a lot. These errors don't imply that whoever billed you weren't paying attention. One of the billing people may have been nearing their last day and didn't exactly care about what they were doing, or maybe someone wasn't fully paying attention when sending you the bill. Whatever the reason for the carelessness, it may not have been done with malicious intent, but that is a sign that you need to investigate exactly what happened and whether it's something that could happen again. If the other party won't do anything about these errors, it would be a good idea to start looking at legal representation.

They Were Inefficient, and You Need New Lawyers

Another issue is that sometimes law firms are very inefficient. They take too long to complete tasks or take enough breaks that you end up being billed for a lot of unproductive time. Again, this isn't necessarily a purposeful overcharge, but it's not something you can put up with again. You shouldn't have to pay thousands of dollars because of someone else's inability to work efficiently.

The audit may turn up nothing; all those charges could be accurate. But if the audit does uncover duplicate or excessive billing, you need to find out exactly why those extra charges were there and act accordingly. Learn more by contacting a legal fee audit service.

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