Spreadsheet checks before running attorney fee calculations in New Hampshire

What the checker catches

Running attorney-fee calculations straight from a spreadsheet can hide small data issues that later become big calculation errors. In New Hampshire, you’ll also want to time-check your “work performed / bill period” inputs against the general statute of limitations—which is 3 years under RSA 508:4 for general civil actions. In this brief, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, so treat 3 years as the default timing baseline (rather than a tailored rule for every fee scenario).

A practical spreadsheet checker should catch problems like these before you run the numbers in DocketMath’s attorney-fee workflow:

• Date logic errors

  • Missing dates (blank “start” or “end” fields)
  • Reversed date ranges (end date earlier than start date)
  • Off-by-one mistakes (partial days treated inconsistently)
  • Mixed formats (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY vs DD/MM/YYYY) that silently swap months/days

• Rate and multiplier inconsistencies

  • Hourly rate stored as a percentage or as text (e.g., "120" instead of 120)
  • Multipliers applied twice (e.g., one column already includes the multiplier, then later you multiply again)
  • A fees column that “looks right” but doesn’t truly reference the rate/hours fields you think it does

• Hours that don’t reconcile

  • Negative time entries (often from sign flips or copying formulas)
  • “Billable” totals that omit “non-billable” time with no flag or explanation
  • Decimal-hour drift from inconsistent conversions (e.g., 15 minutes becomes 0.25 in one place but 0.3 elsewhere)

• Duplicate rows or repeated invoices

  • Multiple entries for the same date/time range
  • Same invoice number posted twice with different tax settings
  • Vendor/task columns that appear identical but differ by whitespace (e.g., trailing spaces)

• Category mapping problems

  • Task descriptions that don’t map to the intended fee category (or map to “unassigned”)
  • Inconsistent category naming (e.g., Motion to Compel vs Mtn to Compel)

• Sanity-checking limitations timing

  • If your spreadsheet includes dates that drive fee eligibility logic (e.g., work dates, bill period dates, claim-related reference dates), flag rows that fall outside the 3-year general window.
  • Again, because no claim-type-specific sub-rule was identified here, use RSA 508:4’s 3-year general period as the default baseline for your spreadsheet’s timing filters.

Quick validation table (use as your checklist)

When to run it

Run the checker at three points, because each stage catches different failure modes:

• Before you import or paste new billing data

  • Goal: prevent format drift (especially dates and numeric types).
  • Best practice: immediately run date-range integrity and hours-conversion checks after importing.

• Right after you categorize or tag time entries

  • Goal: catch mapping errors before totals lock in.
  • Look for any entries routed to “unassigned,” and identify categories with unusually high/low totals compared to prior periods.

• Before generating the final attorney-fee totals

  • Goal: verify your spreadsheet’s inputs match the timing baseline you plan to apply.
  • In New Hampshire, use RSA 508:4’s 3-year general limitations period as the default timing constraint.
  • Since no claim-type-specific sub-rule is identified here, treat 3 years as the standard window in your spreadsheet filters for this baseline sanity-check.

A practical timing rule

• If your spreadsheet includes a work date and a calculation “as-of” date (or other claim-related reference date), run the checker anytime the as-of date changes.
• Even shifting an as-of date by 1 month can move borderline records into or out of your selected window—changing totals even if everything else is correct.

Try the checker

Think of DocketMath’s attorney-fee tool as your second pass after you’ve cleaned and validated your spreadsheet inputs. Use this workflow to minimize surprises:

1. Run spreadsheet validation checks

   • Confirm dates are real date values
   • Confirm “start/end” ranges are logical
   • Recompute hours from base units (minutes/seconds → decimals) once, then reuse that normalized value

2. Add a limitations-aware flag column

   • Add a column that labels each time entry based on where it falls relative to the 3-year RSA 508:4 general window (default baseline):

     • ✅ within the window
     • ⚠️ near the boundary (for review)
     • ❌ outside the window
   • This flag helps prevent accidental inclusion/exclusion; it doesn’t decide legal outcomes.

3. Export or mirror the normalized dataset into DocketMath

   • Keep a clear mapping between spreadsheet columns and DocketMath fields (task/category, hours, rate, dates).
   • If DocketMath totals differ meaningfully from your spreadsheet, re-check:

     • rate/multiplier duplication
     • category mapping
     • date parsing and filtering

4. Compare totals with a tolerance test

   • If totals differ by:

     • < 0.5%: likely rounding or conversion differences
     • ≥ 0.5–2%: likely structural issues (duplicates, mapping, date window filters)

If you want to start, open the attorney-fee flow here: **/tools/attorney-fee

Related reading

• Worked example: attorney fee calculations in Vermont — Worked example with real statute citations
• Attorney Fees Guide for Alaska
• Attorney Fees Guide for American Samoa