Appointed Counsel Vol. 11 - Travel Time and Expenses

Attorneys are permitted to bill for travel time and expenses, and there are specific guidelines under Rule 13 that determine what is and is not compensable regarding  travel time and reimbursable expenses. In this quick episode, host Joe Byrd explains everything you need to know about these guidelines. This podcast is intended for attorneys. 

Transcript

00;00;01;24 - 00;00;28;27
Host
Welcome to Appointed Counsel, a podcast presented by Tennessee Court Talk. For those involved in indigent representation, I'm Joe Byrd, Lead Attorney for the indigent services team of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Court. Episode 11 Travel Time and Expenses. In episode eight of our podcast, I talked about expenses in general and talked about guidelines and limitations to things like parking, lodging, and per diems.

00;00;28;29 - 00;00;57;03
Host
However, the issue of travel time and expenses really merits its own discussion. Now there's two parts to travel compensation that I want to talk about today. Travel time and reimbursable expenses are two different things. Let's look at them in turn. First of all, travel time. Now, we talked in episode eight about travel time. That would be maybe for an overnight trial or for something that you had to go to and spend the night over.

00;00;57;06 - 00;01;30;20
Host
But I want to drill down into the travel time that relates to most claims that most attorneys have. Attorneys are permitted to bill for their travel time, except when traveling to another county, for the sole purpose of hand delivering or filing a document. According to rule 13, section two F. So you can't get travel time for that. In coordination with rule 13, section 4A3B a description of the purpose of travel and the cities of origin and transportation should be entered with the claim for travel time.

00;01;30;22 - 00;02;00;17
Host
So you can get compensated for travel time, as long as it's not for the sole purpose of hand delivering or filing the document, and you provide a description of the purpose of the travel and the cities of origin and destination. The second part of travel compensation are the compensable expenses and episode eight of the podcast. I noted that section four A, three C and three D refer to the rates of the Executive Branch and Judicial Department travel regulations.

00;02;00;20 - 00;02;31;00
Host
Now, the links in that section of the rule are no longer active. However, you can refer to the General Services Administration website, which you can find easily by just googling the word conus c o n U.S., and it will provide the per diem rate for lodging for a particular city, and the meals. Now you have to have your receipts for meals and for your lodging submitted when you're traveling like that.

00;02;31;02 - 00;02;53;02
Host
But I want to focus again on the most common kinds of travel expense in most claims, and that's going to be mileage. In the September newsletter that was emailed to all attorneys who have an active registration in acap, and they have a current email address. A short article discussed the revisions in the policy related to travel time and mileage.

00;02;53;04 - 00;03;18;24
Host
The new policy is, except as limited or prohibited in rule 13, attorneys traveling from their office to destinations necessary and the representation of their clients will be paid for travel time and be reimbursed for mileage that is ten or more miles. Payment for travel time and mileage reimbursement applies whether the travel is in or out of the attorney's home county.

00;03;18;27 - 00;03;40;04
Host
This policy will apply to attorneys who have offices over the state line who are appointed to represent indigent parties. What are the limitations or prohibitions in rule 13? Well, there's primarily two just as attorneys are not to be compensated for time associated with traveling to a court and another county for the sole purpose of hand delivering or filing a document.

00;03;40;09 - 00;04;04;25
Host
Under Tennessee Supreme Court rule 13, section two, F claims for mileage expense will also be prohibited, generally pursuant to section four B. Expenses for out-of-state travel require a prior approval order that is approved by the court and by the AOC. So that is also a limitation to mileage. If it's out of state. You need to have prior approval.

00;04;04;28 - 00;04;44;19
Host
We do allow one exception by policy a narrow exception. And that is is if the mileage will be less than 50 miles over the state line, we will pay that mileage without prior approval. And the reason is, is because we have so many cities that are right near the state line. Sometimes we understand that you're going to have to travel slightly across line and practically be in the same city where you need to travel to interview a witness, as required by Tennessee Supreme Court rule 13, section four a3 b claims for mileage expenses entered into a cap must describe the purpose of the travel and cities of origin and destination.

00;04;44;22 - 00;05;11;21
Host
So, for example, describe your travel by saying something like this. Travel from office in Madison to Courthouse in Nashville. That's plenty. That's all we need to know. One additional limitation set out in our policy is that where there are several claims for cases on the same day for which a mileage expense applies, that expense must be paid in one of the pertinent claims and not divided among the various claims.

00;05;11;23 - 00;05;40;05
Host
In other words, you had six cases at the same courthouse. You traveled only one time. Instead of splitting up the mileage on all six cases. Just enter your mileage and travel time in one claim for those six that will take care of it. The policy before the provision was the travel time in mileage was compensable. If the travel was out of county, but travel time was the only compensation that you would receive if it was in county.

00;05;40;07 - 00;06;03;18
Host
The revised policy basically eliminates the distinction between in county and out of county. But it does set a floor of ten miles. We don't see a lot of claims for miles less than ten miles. We thought that the advantage of being able to claim the travel time and mileage for in county, as well as out of county, would certainly make up the difference.

00;06;03;20 - 00;06;26;26
Host
So travel time in mileage expense over ten miles is compensable regardless if it is in county or out of county at the current compensable rate for mileage. The revised policy simplifies the review process and accordingly allows audit staff to review claims more quickly, and it broadens payment of mileage. Now to include in county travel for these kinds of issues on expenses.

00;06;26;26 - 00;06;39;09
Host
Take a look at the memo that is posted on the website TN courts.gov. For more information, check out the Indigent Representation web page at TNcourts.gov.