In some states attorney client privilege falls outside the ambit of the state's freedom of information law and is protected from disclosure. What is the extent of that protection when it is applied to billings submitted to the client by the attorney? The Virginia Supreme Court recently analyzed the issue and found that while some billing specifics fall within the protection others would not and that a public entity must be careful in redacting portions of bills to be sure that it does not use the exemption too cavalierly. For example, the court concluded that a billing statement noting attendance at trial was not protected, nor would be the statement noting "trial preparation and document review". BERGANO vs. VIRGINIA BEACH http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1171183.pdf [cid:image001.png@01D496CD.02975040] Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director/General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. A 51 Monroe St., Suite 404, Rockville, MD 20850 [cid:image003.jpg@01D496CD.02975040]<http://www.facebook.com/IMLA-259977855541/> [cid:image004.jpg@01D496CD.02975040] <http://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [cid:image005.png@01D496CD.02975040] <http://twitter.com/imlalegal> [cid:image006.jpg@01D496CD.02975040] <http://soundcloud.com/internationalmunicipallawyersassociation> P (202) 466-5424 ext. 7110 M 240-876-6790 D (202) 742-1016 W www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org> Plan Ahead! IMLA's Mid-Year Seminar<http://www.imla.org/events/seminars>, March 29- April 1 in Washington, D.C.! IMLA's 84th Annual Conference<http://www.imla.org/events/conferences>, September 18-22 in Atlanta, GA!