Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
There is no doubt that - notwithstanding alternative billing agreements - we (= my Firm) bill our clients for all hours spent by the relevant partner or associate. And this includes travel time. And we certainly make use of the travel time in the best interest of our clients.
I saw one firm whose policy was to bill for travel time only if it occurred during normal business hours. Which was a bit silly as the associates were all putting in 14+ hour days on the case. I saw another firm which had a policy of no billing for travel hours - but bury the time in other billing details. I tried the "I'll bill for hours that I work in the air" approach but to be honest, some of those hours were pretty poor quality work product. Since I'm independent, I could just make my own, simple, rule, and I did.
I do have a sort of full time job as well, and when I travel for the job, and I'm salaried so there is no way I could even dream of trying to extra pay for travel time. As you say, it's just part of the package there. My company will not pay for travel above Y, they say "Use your miles to upgrade." Not unfair I think.
I find it very annoying that when I travel for a U.S. government agency and am required to use their travel agency, that I can't get FF miles. My butt is in the same seat and I'm suffering just as much in the aluminum tube. Oh well.