A class action lawsuit filed earlier this month in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that Chadbourne & Parke, a New York-based law firm, charged clients hourly rates for online legal research services that billed the firm at a flat rate.  (Erik Sherman, Law Firms Allegedly Overcharging for Online Legal Research (May 14 2009) industry.bnet.com; Tresa Baldas, Lawsuit Claims Chadbourne Overcharged For Computerized Legal Research (May 8, 2009) www.law.com.)  Patricia Meyer, counsel for the plaintiff, says that other suits are in the works.  (Id.)  I suspect that this billing practice is pandemic in the legal industry.  Keep your eyes on this story; we could be in for a wild ride.