My partner, Nicole Auerbach, the soul of Valorem, ensures that we live by the rule that while we take our clients and their problems very seriously, we can’t take ourselves seriously at all. This is the sign that welcomes us to our Conference Room. Even after several months, I smile every time I walk in… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Law Firms’ Economic Model Causes Unnecessary Discovery
Posted in Hourly Rates and AlternativesDiscovery. The great black hole. The Interim Report on the Joint Project of The American College Of Trial Lawyers Task Force On Discovery and The Institute For The Advancement Of The American Legal System contains this nugget: 64% of the respondents (member lawyers, so people who try lots of cases) say law firms’ economic models… Continue Reading
Law Department Budgets Head South
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryThe November 2008 issue of Inside Counsel reports that 62% or the responding law department leaders expect their law department budgets to be reduced as a result of the economic crisis. The pie is shrinking. Your piece can shrink with it, or you can figure out how to get a bigger piece. What are… Continue Reading
Chance Favors The Prepared
Posted in CommentaryLast March, I wrote that unlike with every recession since World War II, we would not be able to rely on the consumer to drive the economy of this recession. Since that post, we’ve seen home prices continue to tumble and the precipitous decline of net mortgage equity withdrawals (essentially, the amount of home equity… Continue Reading
Ten Marketing Rules For Lawyers (and these are great rules)
Posted in Client ServiceMatt Homann’s Ten New Rules of Legal Marketing in the [non]billable hour is brilliant. Here are my two favorites: 2. Google tells me there are 337,000 "Full Service Law Firms” out there. Which one was yours again? 7. Having the scales of justice on your business card says you’re a lawyer — an old, stodgy,… Continue Reading
More Insights On Impact Of Bad Economy On Law Firms
Posted in CommentaryCheck out Larry Bodine’s discussion of the ACC/Serengeti study that predicts a downturn in spending on outside law firms in 2009. Also take a look at Hildebrandt’s Fall 2008 Special Client Advisory. Those looking for good news or positive signs will be disheartened. From Hildebrandt: Unfortunately, it seems certain that a quick turnaround for the… Continue Reading
The Economy: What Does It Mean For InHouse Lawyers?
Posted in CommentaryI just wrote about how much worse the economy may get, and what it means for law firms. I would be remiss if I didn’t offer some thoughts on what the declining economy means for clients. Let me begin my observations by recalling Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over,… Continue Reading
The Economy: What Does It Mean For Law Firms?
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesWake up and smell the coffee. If you run a law firm, heck, if you work at a law firm, wake up and smell the coffee. What, exactly, do you think you’re going to do if the economy continues to head south (which I just wrote about). If life for your clients continues to worsen,… Continue Reading
How Much Worse Can The Economy Get?
Posted in CommentaryI ran across an article in the business section of this morning’s Chicago Sun-Times that made my blood run cold. Columnist Terry Savage was recounting how Bert Dohmen, publisher of The Wellington Letter, predicted the current credit crisis in March 2008, saying that "[t]he enormity of this problem is beyond anything we have ever seen… Continue Reading
More On Law Firms Raising Their Rates In Bad Economy
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesNormal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As I flew from Chicago to Boston this morning, I had an opportunity to read the October issue of The American Lawyer, which fortuitously arrived yesterday. I smiled as I read a piece labled “The Going Rate: With the economy down, will fees go up?” Readers… Continue Reading
Innovative Billing Arrangements Across The Pond
Posted in Hourly Rates and AlternativesFriday’s Financial Times on-line version contains an interesting article on "innovative" billing arrangements, meaning, of course, arrangements not tied to hours. The thesis of the article is that "many law firms have also become disenchanted with hourly billing, which they feel fails to adequately reward them for the value they can create for clients." The… Continue Reading
ACC Launches Blog Addressing Fees and More
Posted in People, Places and BlawgsHeads-up. I justed added a link to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s new blog, InHouse ACCess (love the play on capitalization). The authors are ACC President Fred Krebs, ACC GC and leader of the Value Challenge, Susan Hackett, Steve Bokat, Larry Salibra, ACC Associate GC Ellen Zavian and ACC Assistant GC Nichole Opkins. If you want to know… Continue Reading
Fixed Fee v. Billable Hour: Washington Post article
Posted in Hourly Rates and AlternativesToday’s Washington Post contains an article suggesting lean times will hurt the billable hour. The article provides some entertainment in that several lawyers are quoted defending the billable hour. It’s like being the lawyer for a mass-murderer caught in the act. But my favorite bit is this comment: As an associate at a large firm… Continue Reading
Watch For Changes In Ratio Of Partner To Associate Hours
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesMarket forces work in law firms, at least to an extent. When hours become scarce, they become more valuable–more valuable, that is, to the person who records them. Hours are not more valuable to the client who has to pay for them. Consider this from a post on law.com: 5. Partners start doing their own… Continue Reading
This American Life Explains The Economic Mess
Posted in CommentaryAs I write this, the Dow has just gone under 8,000, and today’s Wall Street Journal notes that in the last seven days, investors have lost $8.4 trillion of wealth. And that is only wealth lost in the market. Home prices continue to decline in many areas as well. If you want to understand the… Continue Reading
Will Inside Counsel See The Annual “Rate Increase” Letter This Year?
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesI’m guessing that a lot of law firm leaders are starting to think about hourly rates for 2009. I know they’ve probably heard some rumblings about the economy. Maybe they’ve noticed that their portfolios are worth about 40% less today than just a week ago. Home values? Same thing. Hmmmmm. So as these law… Continue Reading