Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 89-1-5 - Voucher preparation and submission5.1. The preparation of a voucher must be based on accurate and detailed records of the panel attorney regarding the legal services provided to an eligible client in an eligible proceeding. The records must be maintained in a manner that, if audited by the agency, can readily demonstrate, for any day, the clients for whom services were provided, the nature of the services provided, and the time expended for each of the services. The failure to maintain accurate and detailed records will be a reason provided by the agency to a court for the rejection or reduction of vouchers notwithstanding that legal representation was actually provided.5.2. Vouchers must be prepared using OVS. Instructions for accessing OVS, establishing an OVS account, and designating users for the account are set forth on the website. If assistance is needed, the OVS Help Desk should be contacted. Registration as a vendor with the State of West Virginia will be required for payment. The OVS Help Desk will assist with registration as a vendor.5.3. Preparation of a voucher will require completion in OVS of an information page, an itemized statement of legal services, and an itemized statement of expenses. These documents must be completed fully and accurately.5.4. In completing the forms for the voucher required by OVS, the following information must be provided as follows: 5.4.1. Last name and first name of the client must be provided. Identification of minors must be done by initials.5.4.2. Legal services must be itemized and must be coded according to the classifications provided by the agency. Explanations or descriptions of an itemized service must be provided. The explanations or descriptions should not disclose either confidential communications between the attorney and client or the work product of the attorney. The explanations or descriptions should be sufficient, however, to determine the nature of the legal service provided and to support the amount of time allotted for the service. A list of abbreviations that may be used in providing explanations or descriptions is published on the website.5.4.3. Explanations or descriptions for conferences, phone calls, or other communications must identify the person or persons involved, either by title, position, or relationship to the client.5.4.4. Explanations or descriptions for research must state the subject of the research without revealing strategy or work product.5.4.5. Explanations or descriptions for motions must state the purpose of the motions.5.4.6. Explanations or descriptions for hearings must state the purpose of the hearing.5.4.7. Explanations or descriptions for travel for which compensation of time is sought must include a point of origin and a destination and an indication whether the travel is for one direction or for a round trip. If a period of time is billed as travel, compensation cannot be requested for any other services provided during that time such as a telephone conversation or dictation of a work product. The statutory requirement of "actual" time precludes such billing.5.4.8. If services are split between different clients, the explanation or description must provide identification of the other client to which time has been allotted. If services such as travel, waiting-in-court, or research relate to more than one client, panel attorneys are encouraged to split the time between or among the clients because this allotment of time provides a better analysis of costs per case and provides a better record of services in any subsequent proceeding challenging the effectiveness of representation.5.4.9. Explanations or descriptions for services on the same date that are identical should be further explained or described. For example, if phone conversations with a client occur on the same day multiple times and are itemized separately, the explanation or descriptions should make reference to the "first" phone call, the "second" phone call, and so forth. The absence of such further explanation or description may result in a reduction of the amount requested for compensation based on the possible duplication of entries.5.5. Waiting-in-court -- Explanations or descriptions for services itemized as waiting-in-court must include the designated time for the commencement of the proceeding and the actual time of commencement.5.5.1. Waiting-in-court does not include recesses or other breaks in the proceedings of one hour or longer; Provided, That such break time can be billed as out-of-court if attorney's work is done during that time period. The time between submission of a matter to a jury and awaiting a jury verdict may be billed as waiting-in-court for the time the jury is actually deliberating.5.5.2. If time is billed as waiting-in-court, compensation cannot be requested for other legal representation for the same or different client during that same period of time. The statutory requirement of "actual time" precludes such billing.5.6. Investigative services and paralegal services - Compensation for investigative services will be made to persons engaged in the private investigation business as defined by the provisions of W. Va. Code § 30-18-1. 5.6.1. Services that are not investigative services but could be paralegal services will be compensated at the rate for paralegal services. Examples of services that would be treated as paralegal services are preparing and filing motions, obtaining orders or other court documents, summarizing discovery responses, or accompanying attorneys to hearings or conferences unless the appearance is relevant to the course of an ongoing investigation.5.6.2. Services that are administrative tasks will not be compensated in any amount. Examples of services that would be treated as administrative tasks are transporting clients to hearings, delivering documents to opposing counsel or the court, purchasing clothing for clients, or obtaining supplies for the attorney.5.6.3. Services that are submitted as paralegal services, but which are actually administrative services, will not be compensated.5.7. Stand-in attorney -- Compensation for services in a case will be made by warrants that are payable to the actually appointed panel attorney. The panel attorney's request for compensation may include the time of stand-in counsel. The explanation for such services must include the initials of the attorney actually performing the services. No compensation will be paid for conferences between the appointed panel attorney and the stand-in attorney and no compensation will be paid for the review of the work product of a stand-in attorney.5.8. A panel attorney in the preparation of the statement of legal services is required to set forth with specificity the nature of the service rendered, the stage of proceeding or type of hearing involved, the date and place the service was rendered and the amount of time expended in each instance. The services are to be itemized. The time expended for each itemized service must be expressed to the nearest tenth of an hour. The agency interprets this requirement as permitting the "rounding up" for any time expended even if it is less than three minutes, but panel attorneys are directed to group similar tasks into one billing item if the collective amount for such tasks remains under six minutes. For example, if an order and accompanying documents are received and the review of the entirety of the documents is less than six minutes, this must be one itemized service for which the time expended is set forth as one-tenth of an hour rather than separately listing each document and entering time for review of each document as one-tenth of an hour. As another example, the review of emails that relate to the same subject and which collectively are reviewed in less than six minutes must be one itemized service for which the time expended is set forth as one-tenth of an hour rather than separately listing each email and entering time for the review of each email as one-tenth of an hour. As another example, if phone calls are made to a client without any answer, these phone calls should be grouped as one item and billed collectively as one tenth of an hour, rather than listing each phone call separately and billing one tenth of an hour for each phone call. The explanations or descriptions for each of these grouped services must indicate the multiple tasks involved.5.9. Value billing, block billing, or pattern billing are prohibited and will not be compensated. A determination that value billing, block billing, or pattern billing has occurred will result in a referral to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for investigation or, if warranted in the circumstances, will result in a referral to the Commission on Special Investigations within the West Virginia Legislature for possible criminal prosecution.5.10. An electronic signature of the panel attorney submitting a voucher must be affixed to the voucher and will be a declaration, under the penalty of perjury as set forth in the provisions of W. Va. Code § 39-1-10a, that (1) the voucher complies with the provisions of W. Va. Code § 29-21-13a; (2) the attorney time set forth in the itemized statement of legal services represents the actual and necessary time of the undersigned attorney expended on legal services for the identified client; and (3) the expenses set forth in the itemized statement of expenses represent actual and necessary expenses incurred in providing legal representation for the identified client.5.11. The electronic signature is also an acknowledgment by the panel attorney submitting the voucher that the voucher is subject to an audit by the agency. Audits may be done randomly or may be necessitated by anomalies discovered in the review of vouchers.5.12. When a voucher is electronically submitted to the agency for its processing, the panel attorney will receive an electronic acknowledgment from the agency that the voucher has been received.5.13. When a voucher is electronically submitted to the agency, the panel attorney will then have the option to print a copy of the voucher as submitted.5.14. All orders and supporting documentation attached to vouchers will be submitted in Portable Document Format (.PDF). If the supporting documentation is not submitted in that format, or if the file cannot be opened, the voucher will be rejected.