OPRA states that attorney bills must be disclosed, but they may be redacted to remove any attorney-client privileged information on them. I’ve always understood this provision to mean that it’s permissible to redact anything on the bill that would reveal something about legal advice or litigation strategy. For the first time, the Appellate Division (in an unpublished opinion) has addressed this aspect of OPRA, and confirmed that this interpretation of the attorney invoice language is correct.

In Mears v. Boro of Lawnside, the custodian redacted “every word of every line item” description of the attorney’s services on the invoices, as falling within the attorney-client privilege. The Appellate Division reviewed the invoices and concluded that none of the entries were covered by the privilege. The redactions here all shielded the type of descriptions that are typically put on an attorney’s bill, such as, for example, review correspondence; participate in phone conference with court, or with identified individuals; and draft letter brief in advance of oral argument. The court stated that these redactions violated OPRA, because the descriptions did not reveal “confidential information, trial strategy, or work
product.”

The Boro had also redacted certain expenses shown on the bills, for filing fees, mailing fees, and a monthly retainer. The court invalidated these redactions as well, again because these expenses did not disclose any privileged information.