Check out yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding attorneys’ fees for non-productive travel time. The bankruptcy court had disallowed half the fees assessed for non-productive travel time, the district court affirmed, and the Fifth Circuit held that there was no abuse of discretion. It is certainly not uncommon for firms to charge the full hourly rate for nonproductive travel time. As Judge Posner opined in Henry v. Wbermeier, 738 F.2d 188, 194 (7th Cir. 1984), such a practice is justified by the opportunity cost to attorneys traveling for one case being prevented from using that time to perform other billable work in another matter. The Fifth Circuit’s decision yesterday, however, shows that firms who do engage in this billing practice need to be wary of at least an increased proof burden to show with specificity that such practice is customary in their market.