‘Never the twain shall meet’ - a phrase used by Kipling in 'Barrack-room Ballads' in 1892, to lament the gulf of understanding between the British and the inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. Many law firms that I know would say a similar gulf exists between them and the procurement manager; different language, a lack of shared reference points, opposing goals…

Over the last few days, we have had a number of firms asking us what they should be doing about their current pricing strategy. In some ways the question, whilst understandable, is a little premature because for many, it is business as usual.

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your regular pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges. [Note: we don't always agree with the content of others that we post but the philosophy of Validatum Pricing Espresso® is shared perspectives, not a personal 'soap-box']

Law firms today face increased pressure to do 'more for less' resulting in rapidly growing interest in compelling technology-augmented hybrid offerings: focused on process-oriented work, applied at scale, leveraging technology to produce effective solutions that address the GCs evolving role as manager of legal spend and supply chain risk.

For many law firms, this means fewer billable hours. If AI will allow document review for example, in a fraction of the time it used to take, that's someone's billable hours target out the window. The use of AI in legal service delivery is exciting and represents a great opportunity, particularly for early adopters, but it has a vicious sting in the tail. Something will have to change with traditional pricing models.

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges. [Note: we don't always agree with the content of others that we post but the philosophy of Validatum Pricing Espresso® is shared perspectives, not a personal 'soap-box']

I have spent many hours traversing the square mile in London on the hunt for legal spend management insight, and I’d liken it to trying to find a fabulous low fat chocolate muffin… I know it’s out there but finding something tasty really takes some effort! I understand that it’s hard to produce something that appeals to everyone’s slightly different tastes, but invariably I’m left slightly disappointed that the things on offer aren’t quite what I wanted – they aren’t fabulous to me.

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges. [Note: we don't always agree with the content of others that we post but the philosophy of Validatum Pricing Espresso® is shared perspectives, not a personal 'soap-box']

“I can keep honest counsel, run, ride, mar a curious tale in telling it and deliver a plain message bluntly. That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me is diligence”

The Earl of Kent, King Lear’s faithful old retainer, King Lear, Shakespeare

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges. [Note: we don't always agree with the content of others that we post but the philosophy of Validatum Pricing Espresso® is shared perspectives, not a personal 'soap-box']

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges. [Note: we don't always agree with the content of others that we post but the philosophy of Validatum Pricing Espresso® is shared perspectives, not a personal 'soap-box']

Our experience over the last four years of working with larger UK law firms has been that there is often a significant dissonance between the firm’s pricing strategy on the one hand and its broader strategic objectives/plan on the other hand. Indeed, it is rare to actually see any reference to pricing strategy at all in a firm strategic plan document.

The High Court has upheld a contingency fee agreement under which London law firm Bolt Burdon (BB) received half of the compensation recovered – which amounted to over £400,000, eight times what it would have billed on an hourly basis. In Bolt Burdon Solicitors v Tariq & Ors [2016] EWHC 811 (QB), the defendants had been mis-sold an interest rate swap by Allied Irish Bank, and instructed BB to recover compensation under the Financial Conduct Authority’s redress scheme.