The two primary objectives of all pricing decisions by law firms should be to maximise profitability while at the same time ensuring that the pricing structure leaves the client feeling that they have had fair value for money. And yet opportunities to do so continue to be squandered.

This blog has its genesis in an angry and heartfelt comment on LinkedIn from a practitioner who was responding to my post that read, “Law Society accredits first law firms to Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme. Excellent, but will the accredited firms use the accreditation...

We all like a ‘good client’, whether it is an existing client, or a big one we hope to land. But what exactly are the attributes of a good client and what do we do about them if they aren't as good as we thought they were? When working with partners on pricing strategy...

Over the holiday break I came across two stories that highlight the two sides of long-term profit decline in smaller law firms. One is about poignant failure, the other about success. I want to share both with readers to highlight what...

In a recent survey of general counsel in Australia and New Zealand, just four to six per cent said hourly billing is the optimal method of pricing legal services. When asked which pricing method they would prefer, the general response was a collective shrug of the shoulders...

Well, that’s got a really upbeat ring to it! As if legal practice isn’t challenging enough, we are now being told to not make a profit. No, clearly not. This is the further development of one of my core tenets and that is, production costs have absolutely nothing...

Gollum’s iconic phrase from Lord of The Rings is the theme of this post and pretty much describes the grip that many partners exercise over pricing decisions impacting ‘their’ clients. This gives rise to a broader question; who should control pricing in the firm - partners, marketing, finance or someone else?

Two joint Validatum–Beaton Capital Australian seminars will release to the small and mid-tier law firm market in Australia, the LegalDatum cloud-based resource that will provide law firms with reliable market data about what their competitors are charging and how...

The great majority of practitioners have not discovered cost consciousness. Yet, of all the client service attributes we measure amongst the clients of law firms in our Beaton Benchmarks studies, it stands out head and shoulders in importance – and neglect by solicitors.

“This is a commodity business. In a commodity business, you have little or no control over pricing. The only thing you can control is your costs.” No, these are not the words of a besieged law firm managing partner but those of a misguided Wall Street analyst making a comment about the losses at U.S. Steel...

The pricing function in most law firms is something of an orphan. No-one knows who it belongs to so it ends up belonging to no-one. Individual department heads and fee earners make decisions on the fly with little regard to the firms’ pricing policies, processes and protocols....

Unbundling as a service delivery and price modulation strategy is as old as the hills; for everyone but law firms. It is another example of how our pricing epiphany is most other goods or service providers old rubbish wrappings. Still, let's get on with it as it can be a good pricing option...