Out of Pocket Expenses

Holly Sheriff MSLS • January 23, 2020

Personal Injury – Tracking Out of Pocket Expenses for Lawyers BVP LLC

North Carolina – Personal Injury

In North Carolina and many other states, one of the primary tasks your law firm should assign to a paralegal is gathering, compiling, and calculating your injured parties’ out of pocket expenses.

Out of pocket expenses are the most overlooked damages by clients. It should be your paralegal’s job to ensure these catch-all expenses are not overlooked. With that said, it should be your job as the supervising lawyer to ultimately decide whether these expenses are included in your demand.

Depending on the extent of the injuries and the type of case, out of pocket expenses may not be a medical expense. A well-trained paralegal should know what types of expenses are included in this catch-all category of damages.

So, what are some of the expenses a paralegal would gather for a North Carolina, personal injury lawyer?

Out of pocket expenses, which might include

  • Medical Devices such as crutches, canes, C-Collars, wheelchairs, and slings
  • Prescription medication (Rx)
  • Over the counter medications
  • Costs associated with out of state lodging
  • Transportation costs: Milage, Lyft, Uber, Bus Fare, & Car Rental
  • Parking expenses such as meters, parking garages at hospitals.

Sample of an Out of Pocket spreadsheet – Style One of 3 -This sample should not be used as a substitute for competent licensed professional advice such as a lawyer, CPA, or doctor. Work Product Sample of Best Virtual Paralegal LLC For Information Only

Best Practices for Tracking Out of Pocket Expenses

Finding all the possible expenses is the hard part. The tracking method is relatively easy. Your paralegal can use a Word Document, WordPerfect or Excel Sheet. The data collected on the tracking sheet may vary slightly by law firm, lawyer preferences, and by case, but generally, it should include a few standard items:

  • Claim number
  • injured party’s name
  • Medical Insurance information (primary and secondary)
  • Dates of service
  • Doctor, Hospital, & Facility
  • Description of expense
  • Amount paid
  • Amount charged

Remember, it’s your responsibility as the lawyer to decide which out of pocket, but wouldn’t be nice to have all the expenses for each client captured in an easy to read and digest format from the onset of representation? Schedule an intake call with us to help start tracking your client’s expenses.

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