The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that the national plaintiffs nursing home litigation firm Wilkes & McHugh has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action alleging that the firm overcharged clients in Tennessee. Here is the article.

The suit alleged that the firm overcharged clients with expenses, such as for lawyers flying to Tennessee from other states on private jets to work on their cases. Wilkes & McHugh maintained that it did nothing wrong. The settlement calls for payments ranging from $5,200 to $110,000 per client.

The lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the case was Frank Watson III of Memphis.

For many years lawyers have been speculating as to whether there could be a boom in cases against law firms for overcharging clients. There does appear to be recent growth in this area.

Earlier this year a suit was filed against prominent New York firm Chadbourne & Parke alleging that the firm overcharged for legal research fees. In September professional wrestler Hulk Hogan announced a lawsuit against his former attorneys alleging that they overcharged him by over $1 million. In addition, in April a Kentucky jury convicted fen phen lawyers of stealing millions from their clients.

Clients are entitled to an itemization of fees and expenses charged by their attorneys in a case. Unscrupulous defense attorneys can overcharge in the amount of hours billed and unfairly run up expenses. Unscrupulous plaintiff lawyers are more likely to just unfairly charge the client with expenses, since a contingency fee is usually transparent.

Clients who have concerns in this area should request an itemization that specifically lists the fees and expenses charged by the law firm. Pretty much all businesses, including law firms of all sizes, use accounting software that can easily generate reports that will show the amount of each item charged to a matter. If a law firm refuses, the client should file a complaint with the state bar and seek assistance from another attorney.