HERBERT A. ROSS
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

      a. Debtor has applied pursuant to § 327(e) of the Bankruptcy Code for permission to specially employ Beaty Draeger Locke & Troll (BDL&T) as its attorneys to prosecute U.S. District Court case A91-046 against Burger King Corporation, and noticed out the application with a response deadline of March 25, 1991 (Docket Nos. 7 - 9, filed 2/27/91). The application asks that BDL&T be permitted to draw up to $5,000 per month, plus costs for a maximum of 36-months.

      b. Debtor applied for permission to employ BDL&T as its bankruptcy counsel under § 327(a) of the Bankruptcy Code. The clerk entered a form order authorizing the appointment of BDL&T,     1 ABR 409  but providing that no fees be paid unless Bankruptcy Rule 2016 and Local Rule 23 are complied with. (Docket No. 15, dated 3/5/91)

      On the court's own motion, IT IS ORDERED that,

      1. FEE APPLICATIONS - No fees may be paid to (BDL&T) by debtor without compliance with Bankruptcy Rule 2016, §330(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, and Local Rule 23. While the rules may be relaxed to allow for interim payment on some other basis than once every 120-days, this must await a specific court order which will include some notice period so an objection to the periodic bill may be made by the U.S. Trustee and others.

      2. ITEMIZATION OF BILLS -

           2.1. Job Costing - BDL&T shall, when applying for fees, segregate its billing by logical major categories. E.g., separate elements of the bill might group together fees and costs concerning: (a) a particular relief from stay matter; (b) the disclosure statement and plan development process; and, (c) separate adversary proceedings or litigation (e.g., dealing with the franchisor, Burger King Corporation). By starting early in the case, BDL&T should be able to adapt its automated billing program to easily accomplish this. Cf. Unsecured Creditors Committee v. Puget Sound Plywood, Inc. (In re Puget Sound Plywood, Inc.), 924 F.2d 955, ____ (9th Cir. 1991):

In addition, PSP counters that here "the court could not realistically quantify to numerical precision ... the lodestar calculation." See Great Sweats, 113 B.R. at 244. Indeed, the bankruptcy court found that Uziel's     1 ABR 410  application was difficult to interpret. "Because the application contains numerous entries which lump together services relating to varying matters, the court is unable to delineate the specific times spent on specific tasks." While Uziel submitted a comprehensiveu statement, it is difficult to sort out the work performed on the three categories for which he seeks compensation. Uziel thus failed to supply the bankruptcy court with a sufficiently detailed application. Cf. In re Nucorp Energy, Inc., 764 F.2d 655, 658 (9th Cir.1985) (debtors' counsel must maintain and present detailed accountings of services rendered to bankruptcy estate to recover attorneys' fees).

           2.2. Rates - Each application for fees and costs shall contain a section giving the rate charged for each professional and paraprofessional, and the rates BDL&T has billed for other items (e.g., copying, computer aided legal research; FAX; personal delivery services; secretarial; etc.)

           2.3. Narrative Description in Application and on Statement - Applications must contain enough narrative to inform the court what has happened during the billing period. Often, attorneys only attach the client's billing statement to explain what was done and this is generally not sufficiently informative. In addition, the line items on the billing statement should avoid "lumping" time in large blocks and inadequate description of tasks performed. Each line item should list the time spent and the amount charged, as opposed to merely summarizing the amount at the foot of the bill. Large costs should be sufficiently identified     1 ABR 411  and itemized. Copy costs for large runs should not be billed at 25¢ per copy unless this can be justified.

           2.4 Cumulative Reporting - So that on each application the court and interested parties can see a summary of past applications for fees and the cumulative amount sought, each applications should provide a running summary and cumulative report which gives:

           2.4 Allocation Between the Corporate and Individuals Cases - BDL&T must be diligent in properly allocating and recording costs and fees between the related corporate and individual cases.

      3. BUDGET FOR LEGAL FEES -

           3.1 Budget in General - BY MARCH 23, 1991, BDL&T shall submit a 6-month attorney fee budget, allocating projected legal fees and costs to anticipated tasks, e.g.: (a) plan development; (b) cash collateral matters; (c) litigation; etc.     1 ABR 412  Copies of the budget shall be submitted to the U.S. Trustee and any committee appointed by the U.S. Trustee, and filed with the court.

      This budget shall be updated every 3 months with an update showing the new period (an additional 3-months) and a comparison of the past budget with what fees and costs have actually been incurred.

      If debtor and BDL&T feel that some disclosures might compromise sensitive matters, they should provide the sensitive information to the U.S. Trustee for in camera review.

           3.2 Disclosure of Proposed Rates and Billing Practices - The budget should disclose the rate to be charged of each professional and paraprofessional. It should also disclose what items BDL&T intends to charge for separately (e.g., copying, computer aided legal research; FAX; personal delivery services; secretarial) so that the court can assess whether, in light of these costs and overhead charges, the hourly rate of the professionals is too high.