UTBMS expense codes

An expense line carries one of the 24 codes from E101 to E124 and, in most systems, no task or activity code. A courier to court is E107, the filing fee it delivered is E112, and they are two lines.

Code by what the money was for, not by who sent the bill. A court reporter's invoice for a deposition is E115, a transcript of a hearing is E116, and an expert's invoice is E119 even when it arrives through local counsel.

Travel splits in two. E109 is local travel: mileage, taxis and parking. E110 is out-of-town travel: flights, trains, hotels and car hire. Meals go to E111 whether local or away. A trip to a deposition in another city is usually three lines: E110 for the flight, E110 for the hotel and E111 for dinner.

Many billing guidelines cap or refuse some of these, such as first-class fares, alcohol or local meals. The code is right either way; whether it is paid is a matter for the guidelines.

E103 word processing, E104 fax and E105 telephone are in the 1997 set, but many corporate clients treat them as overhead in the firm's hourly rate and will not pay them. The same goes for in-house copying (E101) above a small amount, and for online research (E106) unless agreed in advance.

E124 Other works as a last resort. A month of costs coded E124 looks like a firm that did not code, and invites a line-by-line query.

The time in a litigation matter is coded with the UTBMS litigation codes and an activity code on each line. Every code set, including bankruptcy, counseling and project, is in the full UTBMS code lookup.