Under normal circumstances, we would not bother wasting time addressing the asinine drivel that periodically issues forth from the Legal Services Consumer panel but the latest article in the Law Society Gazette (1 August 2018) simply cannot pass without comment. Why? Because the panel’s latest utterance goes well beyond an appalling lack of understanding and reaches into the realms of the mischievous and self-interested cultivation of dissent where there is currently none. Put bluntly, troublemaking for the hell of it.

Now in its 10th year with half of all US law firms with 50 or more lawyers participating, the Law Firms in Transition survey has become a valuable resource for insight on law firm strategy and the opinions of firm leaders.

Although the research and the report are US-centric, we have little doubt that if the exercise was replicated in the UK, European and APAC markets, the results would be very similar.

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']

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']

Let us say at the outset that we are strong proponents of fixed fees, even in areas of work where they have not been particularly prevalent such as dispute resolution. We believe that they should be used much more than they are to the benefit of both firms and clients.

However, two articles hit our inbox recently, which both in their own way reaffirmed the widespread misunderstanding on the part of law firms as to how best to deploy fixed fees, and an equally profound lack of understanding on the part of many clients as to how fixed fees must be structured.

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']

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']

Most firms now recognise that pricing strategy and execution requires considerably more focus and effort than has historically been the case. But as with any initiative, the starting point should be a critical appraisal of how we are doing currently. Only by taking a candid and honest view of the current state of affairs do we have a basis for deciding what is required to make improvements and how to prioritise those efforts.

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']

"I am sick and tired of asking my external law firms for a garden shed and getting a bloody office tower and a bill to match!"

So opined [verbatim] a very frustrated FTSE 100 GC in a casual conversation with us recently.

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']

Pricing improvement initiatives in law firms are unfortunately often characterised by confusion and indecision over why the initiative is required, what the initiative is intended to achieve and therefore what it should look like.