Can a Florida lawyer bill the client separately for in-house secretarial time as a cost?

Plain-English summary

A member of The Florida Bar asked about charging clients, as a separate cost item, for the secretarial time the firm spends on a particular matter. The charge would appear separately on the client's statement and would pass on the secretary's salary at an hourly rate.

The committee concluded that, while the proposal was not specifically prohibited by the Code of Professional Responsibility (citing DR 2-106, EC 2-17, EC 2-18, EC 2-19, DR 5-103, and EC 5-8), the proposal was unprofessional and undignified and should be discouraged. Regular and usual secretarial services had traditionally been treated as part of a lawyer's overhead expense, included in the fee. The committee was careful to say it was not suggesting a lawyer may never charge for extra and unusual secretarial services, giving as examples overtime work for which a secretary is paid in addition to regular salary, or secretarial work incident to the matter that is not ordinarily done by a legal secretary. But office overhead, meaning expenses the lawyer would routinely incur without reference to a particular matter for a particular client, should be included as an element of the fee charged rather than billed as a separate cost item.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1975, before The Florida Bar's adoption of the 2006 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct. It applied the former Code of Professional Responsibility, which has since been replaced. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current Rule 4-1.5 before relying on any specific requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a lawyer bill the client for in-house secretarial time as a separate cost?

A: The opinion concluded that separately charging for ordinary secretarial time, though not specifically prohibited by the Code, is unprofessional and undignified and should be discouraged.

Q: Why not? Isn't it a real cost?

A: Per the opinion, regular and usual secretarial services have traditionally been treated as part of a lawyer's overhead, which the lawyer includes in the fee rather than billing as a separate item.

Q: Is there any secretarial work a lawyer can bill separately?

A: Yes. The committee said extra and unusual secretarial work may be charged, giving as examples paid overtime or secretarial work incident to the matter that is not ordinarily done by a legal secretary.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied DR 2-106 and related provisions (EC 2-17, EC 2-18, EC 2-19, DR 5-103, EC 5-8) of the former Code of Professional Responsibility, which governed fees and the elements properly charged to a client. That subject corresponds to Model Rule 1.5 (fees); the current Florida counterpart is Rule 4-1.5.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct (as cited, former Code):

• CPR DR 2-106; EC 2-17; EC 2-18; EC 2-19; DR 5-103; EC 5-8 (fees and charges to the client)

See also

• FL Bar Ethics Op. 75-40: Title Company Fee to Lawyer
• FL Bar Ethics Op. 76-36: Undisclosed Title Discount

Source

• Landing page: https://www.floridabar.org/etopinions/etopinion-75-29/
• Original PDF: https://www-media.floridabar.org/uploads/2017/04/FL-Bar-Ethics-Op-75-29-2.pdf

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

FLORIDA BAR ETHICS OPINION
OPINION 75-29
November 30, 1975
Advisory ethics opinions are not binding.
It is unprofessional and undignified for an attorney to separately charge a client for costs of secretarial work unless such work is extraordinary or unusual.
CPR: DR 2-106, EC 2-17, 2-18, 2-19, DR 5-103, and EC 5-8
Vice Chairman Sullivan stated the opinion of the committee:
A member of The Florida Bar asks about the propriety of charging clients as a cost item for the secretarial time the firm spends for the client on a particular matter. The charge would be listed separately on the statement sent to the client and would pass on to the client the cost of the secretary's salary determined on an hourly rate.
The Committee is of the opinion that, while the proposal is not specifically prohibited by the Code of Professional Responsibility (see particularly DR 2-206, EC 2-17, 2-18, 2-19, DR 5-103 and EC 5-8), the proposal is unprofessional and undignified and should be discouraged. Regular and usual secretarial services have traditionally been considered part of a lawyer's overhead expense which the lawyer includes in the fee he charges the client.
We are not suggesting that a lawyer may not charge a client for extra and unusual secretarial services — for example, overtime work for which a secretary is paid in addition to her regular salary or for secretarial work incident to the matter the lawyer is handling but which is not ordinarily done by a legal secretary. But we believe that office overhead — expenses the lawyer would routinely incur without reference to a particular matter for a particular client — should be included as an element of the fee charged and not billed as separate cost items.