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.
Law firm metrics ‘not much use to clients’
Popular metrics for comparing law firms, including profit per partner and rankings systems, are poor indications of firm quality and status, according to one consultant.
While law firms place considerable weight on metrics such as profit per partner, Chambers rankings and M&A league tables, these measurements are unreliable at best and irrelevant at worst, according to Jordan Furlong, a partner at Edge International. Read more...
What should you do when your client asks you for a discount?
You've got this great client. Let's call him Phil. You've been working together for years, and you think the relationship is pretty rock solid. And then one day Phil calls you out of the blue and says "Look, we've enjoyed working with you all these years, we've really enjoyed it, but times are tough. We're gonna need you to give us a 20% discount going forward please."
How do you react? Should you give him the discount to make sure you retain his business, in the hope that times will get better and you can put the price back up? Or should you say No and risk losing Phil's business for good? Read more...
LPM 102: Eight Critical Tools for Legal Project Management
Effective communication is essential to for successful Legal Project Management, says Aileen Leventon in the second of a two-part series; she recommends eight critical communication tools.
Change is inherent in the nature of legal work. As a matter progresses – whether it is a transaction, litigation, regulatory or any other matter – new facts, circumstances and legal issues emerge. Read more...
The Billable Hour: BigLaw’s Headless Chicken — Rethink the Practice
For years, we have heard about the imminent death of the billable hour and BigLaw's committed efforts to kill it off, once and for all. And yet it plods along, still the predominant method of valuing the services provided by lawyers.
This brings to mind the true story of Mike the Headless Chicken. (Fair warning: the photos are unsettling.) The story goes something like this: In the 1940s, a Colorado farmer attempted to execute one of his birds to provide for supper with his mother-in-law, whose preferred piece of chicken was the neck. Read more...
Reinventing The Law Business: In Defense Of The Billable Hour
Do I have the guts to defend the billable hour? Well, with some trepidation, the answer is yes I do.
I have a perspective on this that is deeper than most in that I have sent out, billed, and negotiated probably over 10,000 legal bills over the past 20 years. Also, in my capacity as de-facto general counsel for my clients, I have reviewed thousands of more bills from other lawyers. None of the foregoing is an exaggeration. Indeed, it is probably much higher. Read more...
Is the Billable Hour Killing Your Legal Marketing Effectiveness?
Hate to say it, but most lawyers are doomed from the moment they step out of law school. They instantly become immersed in a workplace culture that exalts all the wrong things. And it's rigged to make them work excessively for diminishing returns.
For some reason, our industry considers working long hours to be a badge of honor. I know I felt that pressure, from the very first job I had. Bill those hours, associate. Because you're being measured on them. Read more...
Fixed Fees for Finance Cases
This article is a general overview about the debate around new paradigm concept of fixed fees in Financial Remedy Cases.
High Court Judge Mostyn says in his famous judgement in J v J that 'something must be done'. Indeed, his starting point was the comment of Munby J in KSO v MJO and JMO (PSO Intervening) [2008] EWHC 3031 (Fam) in a case in which he drew comparison to Charles Dickens' fictional case of Jarndyce v Jaundice. Read more...
Remaking Law Firms
Why you should read and recommend Remaking Law Firms
- First deep analysis and set of solutions to the challenges facing BigLaw firms
- Based on the researched conclusion that no law firm can assume its place and prosperity are assured
- Written to help law firms continue to be relevant to their clients and financially rewarding for their partners
- Explains why most firms are not well equipped to know what to do or how to 'remake' their business models Read more...
Client RFPs Hit 15-Year High
More clients are using more RFPs to hire law firms than any point in the last 15 years.
56% of corporate counsel issued RFPs for law firms in 2015, up from 45% in 2014. We now face a majority of clients using RFPs to hire new law firms. The increase is due directly to the rock-like drop in client service performance clients are experiencing. Read more...
