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CASE BUDGETING Eastern District of North Carolina March 19, 2015 By Larry M. Dash 1 3/19/2015
CASE BUDGETINGEastern District of North Carolina
March 19, 2015
By
Larry M. Dash
13/19/2015
WHAT ARE MY RESPONSIBILITIES
Case Budgeting
Training and Education
Excess Voucher Review
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WHAT CASES DO WE BUDGET
Capital Prosecutions
Mega Cases
Capital Habeas/Appeals
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WHAT IS A MEGA CASE?
More than 300 Attorney hours
More than $38,000.00 overall
(includes
service providers)
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WHAT KINDS OF CASES MAY QUALIFY AS MEGA CASES?
RICO
Multi-Defendant
Capital
Large Fraud Cases
Wiretap Cases
Large Discovery Cases
53/19/2015
WHAT KINDS OF CASES MAY QUALIFY AS MEGA CASES?
CON’T
Non-English Speaking Clients • (Unusual Languages)
Mental Health Clients
Gang Cases
Large Drug Trafficking Cases
Terrorism/Classified Cases
63/19/2015
WHAT KINDS OF CASES MAY QUALIFY AS MEGA CASES?
CON’T
Cases Destined for Trial longer than
about a week
Cases you believe you will request
interim payments
73/19/2015
WHY DO CASE BUDGETING
Is a tool to help you get the services and resources you need
without duplication of effort in multi-defendant cases
Is a tool to insure timelypayments for you and your service providers (interim payments)
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CASE BUDGETING ATTORNEYS FOLLOW RULE # 1
Case Budgeting Should Not Reduce
or Degrade the Quality Of
Representation Which The Circuit
Has Grown To Expect From Its Panel
Members
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I THINK I HAVE A MEGA CASE-NOW WHAT?
Ask The Court For Permission To File A Budget
DO NOT Spend Hundreds Of Hours On The Case
Before Calling The Case Budgeting
Attorney
Get The Budget Forms
Meet With Co-Counsel
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• Copy of Non-Capital-Mega-Case-Budgeting-
Worksheets.xls
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WHAT CAN I DO
Think Of Yourself As A Member Of A 30 Attorney Law Firm
Shop around for Service Providers
Negotiate A Lower Rate
Use The One Step At A Time Approach
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WHAT ELSE ?
Contact The National Litigation Support Administrator
Sean Broderick And Kelly Scribner510-637-3500
Talk To Counsel For Co-Defendants
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NEXT
Think About The Case
Look For Ways To Share Resources And Work –
You Might Not Have To Do Everything Yourself!
Prepare Budget In Consultation With CBA
How Many Hours Per Week Will I Be Spending
On This Case?
Is This Necessary?
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CONTINUED
File The Motion/Memorandum To
Approve Budget
File Ex Parte And Under Seal
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BLOW YOUR OWN HORNThe Memorandum Is Your Chance To Tell The Judge How
Cost Conscious You Are
Explain How You Are Sharing Resources
Explain That You Negotiated A Lower Rate Or A Travel
Rate
Explain How You Are Saving Money
Help Develop A Reputation As A Fiscally Responsible
A
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ASK THE JUDGE FOR HELP
Ask For Definite Discovery Cut-Off Dates
Ask The Judge To Order Pinpoint Discovery
Ask The Judge To Order That Discovery Be
Turned Over In A Usable Format
Ask The Judge To Order The AUSA To Prepare
The Transcripts Of Audios
173/19/2015
ADVANTAGES TO BUDGETING
It Is Always Better To Get Prior Approval Than
To Beg For Money After The Fact
The Excel Form Does Your Math For You
You Might Find That Organizing Your Case For
Budgeting Saves You Time
You Get Paid For Budget Preparation
183/19/2015
TRAVEL
Contact your Court for approval
NATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICE (NTS)
800-445-0668
Go to www.GSA.gov for per diem rates
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JUST REMEMBER
• It Is Not Rocket Science
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NON-BUDGETED CASES, SAME PRINCIPLES APPLY
You Can Be Cost-Conscious On A Smaller
Case Also
In Every Multi-Defendant Case You Should
See If Expert, Service Providers Or
Attorney Work Can Be Shared
Even If You Need An Expert For 50 Hours
Instead Of 300, You Can Still Try To
Negotiate A Lower rate Or A Travel Rate213/19/2015
TIPS FOR YOUR VOUCHERS
You did the work, now tell us what you did
Be willing to include your extra work in the memo
If within budget, probably don’t need as much detail
Don’t use cryptic abbreviations that no one but you knows
Type it or use the worksheets in your district (Excel does
the math for you)
Keep time contemporaneously
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TIPS FOR YOUR VOUCHERSCON’T
Do not necessarily need certified interpreter for jail visits
Consider use of paralegal for first review of discovery
Consider asking for a Coordinating Discovery Attorney or
highly skilled paralegal
Talk to co-counsel and consider sharing resources
Merely Reading a NEF does not necessarily mean .1
everytime
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THINGS TO REMEMBER
Investigators Are Not Attorneys Or Paralegals
“The Prosecutors Have One” Is Not Sufficient
Justification
Every Case Is Not A Mega Case
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