West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 89 - Public Defender Services › Title 89 - LEGISLATIVE RULE PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICES › Series 89-01 - Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses of Court Appointed Attorneys › Section 89-1-7 - Voucher processing; reduction; rejection; resolution of disputes

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
7.1. The agency will review a voucher to
				determine if the time and expense claims are reasonable, necessary, and valid
				based upon the information provided on the information page, the itemized
				statement of legal services, and the itemized statement of expenses. The agency
				may review the vouchers of counsel for other parties in the matter in making
				this determination and may make additional inquiries as deemed to be necessary
				to this determination. The agency may review other vouchers of the panel
				attorney which include dates of service set forth in the voucher being
				reviewed. The agency may also contact the panel attorney submitting the voucher
				with questions regarding the voucher being reviewed.
7.2. Within 30 days after the receipt of a
				voucher, the agency may reject the voucher for the following reasons:
7.2.1. The voucher is not submitted
				electronically to the agency in the OVS system;
7.2.2. The voucher is submitted more than 90
				days after the last entry for an actual and necessary legal service on behalf
				of the eligible client and no order of the presiding court showing good cause
				for the late submission is uploaded with the voucher;
7.2.3. The documents comprising the voucher
				have not been completed fully and accurately;
7.2.4. The amount set forth in the voucher
				exceeds any statutory cap on the fees or expenses either in the voucher itself
				or when added to the amount of compensation paid or expenses reimbursed in
				previously submitted vouchers in the same matter and no order of the presiding
				court showing good cause for exceeding the limits is uploaded with the
				voucher;
7.2.5. The voucher is for
				services in a matter that is not an eligible proceeding;
7.2.6. The voucher is for services provided
				to a person who is not an eligible client;
7.2.7. The statement of legal services
				contains time entries that suggest value billing, block billing, pattern
				billing, or other billing that does not reflect actual time;
7.2.8. The statement of legal services
				contains explanations or descriptions of the legal services from which the
				agency cannot determine the nature and extent of the legal services;
7.2.9. Hours on certain dates of service
				cause the attorney to exceed 18 billable hours on a day and an explanation for
				exceeding this number of hours is not provided with the submission;
7.2.10. In-court hours are listed for
				paralegal services without an accompanying order permitting compensation for
				paralegal's work in-court;
7.2.11.
				In-court compensation for paralegal services exceed the maximum
				amount;
7.2.12. As a whole, the
				compensation requested does not represent reasonable, necessary, or valid
				services;
7.2.13. The voucher is a
				duplicate of a previously submitted voucher; or
7.2.14. The voucher in some manner fails to
				comply with the agency's guidelines, this legislative rule, the governing
				statute, or the rules of the Office of the Auditor for the State of West
				Virginia.