Taming the Billable Beast
The ABA Journal has an article in the February 2008 issue by David Gialanella, discussing the billable hour alternatives employed by some innovative law firms.
The billable hour is the dandelion of law practice: pervasive and not so popular.
So, when seeking to avoid the neg ative effects of a system that provides the profits for many a firm, there can be as many approaches as there are landscapers in the phone book.
Three law firms were among those changing the billable equation last year in hopes of reducing associate and client dissatisfaction. Each took a different approach, and though it’s still early, each firm’s leaders like the current results.
In summary, the concepts largely relate to reducing requirements for first-year attorneys, not billing clients for work by first-year attorneys, and flat-fee billing. This last concept is not discussed at much length in the article, but is worth exploring further.
The Shepard Law Group, an employment law firm out of Boston, ditched billable hours completely in favor of flat fees. They call this “Up-Front Pricing” on their website, explaining that for the client, “You will always know how much our work is going to cost before we do it.” As they also state, “you don’t pay for our time — you pay for the work we do and the value you receive.” What a concept.
23 April 2008 | Business, Construction and Law, Consulting, Experts, General, Litigation | Comments
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