"There’s a clause in your agreement that talks about incurring expenses in connection with your representation and they can bill you for these up to a certain amount without prior approval.
Tell them you require them to get your approval before incurring such expenses. And list out the expenses you will not pay for. It’s likely they will have a clause detailing the types of third party expenses they can incur on your behalf. Push back on this list and exclude items like mileage, travel, food, phone charges, copying and research expenses such as Lexis-Nexis, storage and data management services."
Ridiculous. As a business person that has dealt with lawyers, consultants, accountants (in the bricks and mortar world, not the startup lottery) as well as has clients that I do work for (so I've been on the other side) I would totally steer clear of anyone that comes out saying things like this. Unless I was desperate.
It's just not the way to have a professional relationship which involves trust.
Get approval on every expense? Even minor ones? Not going to reimburse for something unless on a white list? Get serious.
This strikes me as penny wise and pound (and time) foolish. The major cost is the hourly rate and whether you are being billed honestly for that (or not). And that is something you have no control over unless you are watching them all the time.
To expect that it matters that you will not approve a minor charge when the attorney can easily jack up his billing on the major charge is a waste of time.
Better to question the bills after the fact and if you feel that you shouldn't have to pay for the lunch bill that your attorney had when meeting with someone on your behalf while leaving a large tip by all means bring up the issue.
But just like with employees a certain amount of leeway is often necessary.