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Abandoned in Place: Global law firm abandons DC and NY back office operations
In the old “Perry Mason era,” a law firm was mostly lawyers (almost all men), each with a secretary (almost all women) — the more wood on the walls, the better. And each lawyer had a fairly big,...
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State Legal Lotteries: States hire private firms for gigantic contingent fees
Here’s a report about a new law in West Virginia, similar to less than half the states, to shine a light on the mysterious, fabulously expensive practice of government agencies contracting to hire...
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Year In Review: “Sophisticated” clients missing the point of legal fee review
My firm has been reviewing legal bills for over 23 years, including over $1 billion in fees from thousands of firms. (We review both “for” and “against” the law firms — we’re on the side of the...
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Flying Blind: Law firms grasping analytics straws instead of self-awareness
Some law firms apparently have trouble knowing their own internal costs, typical path of their legal projects, and potential outcomes to be able to quote fees and then meet the quote. Instead of...
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Voodoo Economics: Firm replaces billable hours quotas with revenue tracking
Billable hours certainly create some problematic incentives for lawyers and law firms. They put all the risk on the client and can reward delay and complication, encouraging lawyers not to solve...
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Prix Fixe: Setting standard legal fees is illegal price fixing
While there are other stories about the acceptance of the billable hour as a de facto standard for legal billing, this is one of the more entertaining I have seen. This is the story of how the US...
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Caught In A Webb: Ferguson hires high profile lawyer to fight US DOJ reforms
Spider web; J Schmidt (NPS); 1977 High hourly rates charged by some lawyers make headlines, like this one from the Chicago Tribune: Ferguson to pay Chicago lawyer Dan Webb $1,335 an hour to pursue...
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Strange Bedfellows: Defendants complain about relationships between attorneys...
Tassel Loafers Some states, often through their attorneys general, are entering into lucrative contingent fee contracts with plaintiff law firms who make millions of dollars by representing the rights...
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Divorced From Reality: Divorce lawyer says spend more to spend less
Here are some warnings from a divorce lawyer who wants to warn you about the surprisingly high cost of divorce. That really shouldn’t surprise anyone, unless you’ve been in a coma for a few decades or...
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Flat World: Flat fees aren’t a legal billing panacea
The legal industry press is forever proclaiming the demise of hourly billing in favor of flat fees. Despite all the hype, nothing has really changed: In the part of the legal and business press...
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Rating Your Lawyer: Setting hourly rates is an art, like collecting them
In the legal and business press, as well as the general public impression of lawyers, setting hourly rates for lawyers is thought to be a mysterious but quasi-scientific process. Court cases would...
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In The Beginning: Hourly fees are relatively new for lawyers
Hourly billing for legal or any services raises all sorts of potential issues, not only with quantity, but also quality of work, staffing, and distorted incentives for the lawyer and impact on the...
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New Jersey Casino: Contingent fees are not for everyone
New Jersey sued Exxon Mobil for billions in environmental damages, using a private law firm, which gets a big piece of the taxpayers’ pie, even though the state has plenty of lawyers of its own who are...
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Ceiling, No Floor: Lawyer agreement sets cap, but not floor, on reasonable fee
Even though lawyers are supposed to know how to write a reasonable contract, it’s surprising how many lawyers and law firms don’t have a reasonable contract with their own clients. I’ve always thought...
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Psychic-Client Privilege: Lawyer-psychic doubles as psychic-lawyer
One reason why so many clients complain about their legal fees is that, unlike mechanics, plumbers, and doctors, the value of legal services can often be hard to see — it’s ephemeral. Even the best...
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Sales Job: Reminding lawyers to appreciate their customers, er clients
Lawyers are professionals, or want special treatment as professionals, but at bottom most of them are just in the law business for the money. Here is advice from someone who makes her living telling...
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Morally Bankrupt: Lawyer failed to discharge clients’ claim to recover...
Sometimes, even if you win the litigation battle, you may lose the war if your opponent suddenly has no money — or you can’t find his or her assets. This is a particular problem when it comes to suing...
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Grave Robbers: Estate planning requires special attention to legal fee...
We get many complaints from clients, family members, and others about the legal fees and other charges taken out of estates and trusts by lawyers, banks, and others working in various capacities, e.g.,...
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Hybrid Legal Fees: Beware of lawyers bearing alternative fee proposals
Every few years, especially during recessions, another generation of lawyers, and a few clients and reporters, claim to have invented or discovered alternative legal fees. In this context, alternative...
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Pro Bono: Free legal services are rare and sometimes overpriced
Out of the many quasi-Latin or otherwise obscure phrases lawyers use every day, “pro bono,” short for “pro bono publico,” is one that’s recognizable to many civilians. Literally it means ‘for the...
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