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Spotlight: Client Expectations for Legal Fees

Lawyers have a privileged role in getting to know clients and finding solutions for them. We are convinced that the relation between a lawyer and his or his client is impaired by the pressure to bill hours for law firm profits.

We reject the model, in place in most firms, of imposing billable hour requirements upon lawyers. First, we believe this model distorts the lawyer-client relationship. In our experience, we cannot truly serve the needs of our clients when they perceive that we bill them for every minute they speak with us. Second, the model encourages inefficiency – more time than necessary is spent, resulting in greater cost.

We take a different approach. We charge our clients a fixed fee for projects or advice, which is agreed in advance, and based on an honest and fair assessment of the time that should be spent. We attempt to minimize the fee issue by addressing it up-front and then shifting the focus to our client relationship. Our associates’ performance is measured and rewarded on the basis of the quality of their work, and the level of satisfaction of the client. It is not always possible to escape the billable hour model. In cases where tasks are not project-oriented, we will use the model. However, we will always do our very best to provide an accurate fee estimate, and at all times communicate project costs.