Good points. It would definitely be a good feature if explicit retainer conditions could be fed into the system to analyse bills, and certainly a client is in a strong position where associates are photocopying.

The more interesting point would be like in the example provided in the article (billing half an hour for mailing) where the system considers the charge for the stated work to be excessive but the client may not be in as strong a position to question it as with the clear cut example you gave.

Definitely interesting times though!