Spreadsheet checks before running attorney fee calculations in Texas

What the checker catches

Attorney fee spreadsheets in Texas often fail long before the final “total fee” cell. DocketMath’s attorney-fee workflow is designed to help you sanity-check the spreadsheet inputs and the arithmetic before you run calculations—especially when your work depends on Texas procedural timing concepts.

Here are the most common categories the checker catches:

• Date logic defects

  • Mixed date formats (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY vs YYYY-MM-DD)
  • “Start” and “end” columns swapped
  • Blank dates being treated as 0 or FALSE, which can quietly create negative or near-zero durations

• Duration math errors

  • Converting days to years incorrectly (or twice)
  • Rounding too early (e.g., rounding years before multiplying by a monthly/annual rate)
  • Using a year length inconsistent with your spreadsheet’s method

• Rate and unit mismatches

  • Annual rate entered as monthly (or vice versa)
  • Percentage stored as 8 instead of 0.08 (or the reverse)
  • Carrying forward a multiplier that’s meant to be applied once, not per line item

• Cross-sheet reference issues

  • Referencing the wrong tab (especially when copied forward for multiple cases)
  • Broken links after renaming columns or moving tables

• Structural mistakes

  • Missing rows in a table range (Excel/Sheets sometimes expands ranges inconsistently)
  • Duplicated line items caused by filtering and copy/paste

Texas-specific context matters because Texas has a general default limitations framework in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 12. This post is not legal advice; the goal is to help you prevent spreadsheet mechanics from producing obviously wrong timing outputs.

Important note on the limitations period: The limitations period referenced in this post is the general/default period under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 12. No claim-type-specific sub-rule was identified in the provided materials, so treat the period below as the default, not a special carve-out.
Source: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CR/htm/CR.12.htm

For this workflow, you’ll use the general “years” value provided as 0.0833333333 years. That’s essentially about 1 month (since 0.0833333333 × 12 ≈ 1). Your checker can validate that your spreadsheet converts that period into the same kind of unit consistently across every row.

When to run it

Timing checks should run at the moment you’re most likely to catch mistakes—right before the fee calculation step, not after.

Use this sequence:

1. After you finalize inputs (dates, rates, hours/month, and any multipliers).
2. Before you run the attorney-fee calculation (so the calculator sees clean data).
3. After copying/expanding formulas for additional line items or cases, because this is where range errors creep in.

If you’re handling multiple scenarios (e.g., different proposed rates, different duty periods, alternative date ranges), run the checker:

• Once per scenario right after you populate scenario-specific columns.
• Whenever you paste in new data, even if the format looks identical—silent conversions happen.

A simple “stoplight” approach helps teams act quickly:

• ✅ Green: Dates parse correctly; duration is non-negative; units are consistent.
• 🟡 Yellow: Rounding differences or near-zero durations appear.
• 🔴 Red: Any negative duration, missing date fields, or multiplier misapplication is detected.

Try the checker

Use DocketMath’s attorney-fee tool to sanity-check your spreadsheet before the calculation. Start by comparing the spreadsheet’s behavior against basic constraints the checker enforces—especially around time conversions and unit consistency.

Upload the spreadsheet, review the warnings, and then run the calculation once the inputs are clean: Try the checker.

Checklist: inputs to verify before running

Use these checkboxes to validate the most error-prone fields:

What to expect when the checker is working

A properly guarded spreadsheet will show predictable behavior:

A Texas workflow sanity test (default period mechanics)

Because the default period is 0.0833333333 years under the general framework in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 12, your spreadsheet should reproduce a stable conversion.

For example, if your sheet converts years to days using a 365-day convention, you should see something close to:

• 0.0833333333 × 365 ≈ 30.4 days

If your sheet yields something radically different (like 3.04 days or 304 days), the checker should flag the unit conversion error.

Gentle reminder: This is about spreadsheet math hygiene, not legal determinations. If you’re unsure how a limitations concept applies to a specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.

Run it now

If you want to run the checker:

• Primary CTA: /tools/attorney-fee

When you review any flagged rows, fix those inputs first, then rerun the attorney-fee calculation.

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