It is rare I have nothing to add, but this six minute (now there’s some rich irony) clip explains precisely how and why women are penalized by hourly billing. Congratulations to my partner Nicole Auerbach on a presentation that has earned such widespread praise.
Category Archives: Commentary
Subscribe to Commentary RSS FeedA Thousand Dollars Per Hour: Wrong Focus
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesThe Wall Street Journal recently reported on the increasing number of BigLaw partners charging more than $1000 per hour. My thoughts on hourly billing are well know, but the criticism of these rates as excessive misses the point entirely. An hour of work from a lawyer billing at this level may well provide far greater… Continue Reading
BigLaw tries to sell the Brooklyn bridge
Posted in CommentaryJust ran across an article in Today’s General Counsel on choosing between litigation and arbitration. There are many factors that go into a decision to pursue one or the other, but this paragraph caught my eye: Moreover, the inability to obtain full discovery can be considered a cost, not a benefit of arbitration. While it… Continue Reading
Go West, young man. Okay, so we did!
Posted in Commentary, General, People, Places and BlawgsAt the chime of the midnight bell on April 1st, Valorem now has on office in Silicon Valley. We are so pleased to announce that David Bohrer has merged his Confluence Law Partners practice into Valorem. Dave’s addition gives us a powerful patent litigation presence on the West Coast as well as a disciple of… Continue Reading
Simple questions a client can ask to expose dirty little secrets
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesEveryone claims to offer fee structures that are alternatives to the billable hour. Frequently, these “alternatives” are nothing more than estimated hours x hourly rates, plus “a little cushion.” So clients should ask: 1. How did you determine your alternative fee? What metrics did you examine? What factors did you consider? What experience did you… Continue Reading
The Premise of Pricing
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesI am frequently asked how I go about pricing the handling of a lawsuit. I am always tempted to answer with the old line, “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.” My real answer goes something like this: “Before talking about how, you need to know why. Why is it that… Continue Reading
Another example of “just not getting it”
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryThe prior post contains a link to a story discussing one of Disney’s key philosophies–”It’s not my fault, but it is my problem.” When a park patron shares a problem with a Disney employee, it doesn’t matter that the employee had nothing to do with the problem or that it’s “outside their jurisdiction.” The employee… Continue Reading
Time to listen: “I don’t hear a word they’re saying”
Posted in CommentaryGreat post by Aric Press of American Lawyer discussing the “series of microclimates” that law firms and law firm-client relationships have become. The title of Aric’s article, Everybody’s talking at me, draws on the great 1969 song of the same title. And while Aric subtly notes the famous “I don’t hear a word they’re saying”… Continue Reading
Making the most of meetings–Bill Clinton style
Posted in Commentary, General, People, Places and BlawgsScott Curran, the Deputy General Counsel of The Clinton Foundation (yes, that Clinton Foundation), was this year’s first guest speaker at Valorem’s “Lunch With a Cool Person.” The mug presented to Scott confirms he is, in fact, a “Cool Person.” Scott was incredibly gracious with his time and his insights and ideas, and my… Continue Reading
“True and correct” copies
Posted in Commentary, GeneralWhen I was a young lawyer, one of my first disputes was with a partner who asked me to proofread his brief. Presented by the phrase “true and correct copy”, I dutifully struck the words “true and correct”. We fought over that edit–I lost. But I have never been willing to sign my name to… Continue Reading
The best source of new business is ….
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryWhen I was a young associate an eternity ago, my firm held an internal seminar on developing new business. Almost every associate attended, with pen and notebook ready to write down the means by which riches would be obtained. The top rainmaker stood up and said, “The best source of new business is…..” And then… Continue Reading
Just one thing
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryOne of the things that happens during boarding on most flights is that people carry on telephone conversations that are impossible to ignore. I used to feel a sense of guilt about hearing what they were saying, but lately I’ve concluded that if they are foolish enough to speak loudly in front of so many… Continue Reading
Wondering on the 4th of July
Posted in Commentary, GeneralI woke this morning wondering whether I would experience the best of America in my lifetime. Certainly, the way we are as a country now is not our best. I thought about how we have divided ourselves into red and blue states, harkening back to a time when the states were union or confederate. … Continue Reading
Fewer senior lawyers and more young lawyers “churning out” the work? No way.
Posted in CommentaryI was asked the other day by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin to comment on a survey conducted by Altman Weil. I did so, and reviewed the resulting article today. The article, which I have only in hard copy, includes this statement by Bryan Schwartz, the chairman of Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC: I think the middle… Continue Reading
Pam Woldow on the money with “Grubby Money” post
Posted in CommentaryPam Woldow just pulled back the curtain on the 800 lb. gorilla in most lawyer-client relationships–money. Here’s the back story from a program Pam led for a law firm and one of its main clients: Then the conversation turned to budgeting, and the tenor turned tense. One partner, speaking with a hint of self-righteousness in… Continue Reading
WSJ: Law Firm Model ‘Dying.” Wrong tense.
Posted in CommentaryRobert Crandall and Clifford Winston, both of the Brookings Institution, have an opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, The Law Firm Business Model is Dying. Here is the money quote: How have regulations caused the demise of long-established “white-shoe” law firms? Much legal work is performed by associates, who in most states must graduate… Continue Reading
Legalese. Oy vey.
Posted in CommentaryI received an email from a partner, who had received a draft document for review. Here is the language sent for review in response to a document request: Responding Party conducted a diligent search to produce the requested documents insofar as they relate to the subject matter of this litigation and insofar as they are… Continue Reading
Latest ABA New Normal Post is Up: A ‘Valorem Dozen’: The Ingredients For One New Normal Firm
Posted in CommentaryMy New Normal colleague Paul Lippe has been writing about the demise of Dewey, and he encouraged me to write about the things that contributed to Valorem’s success. Here’s my article focusing on that point.
Can you operate at the speed of an in-house lawyer?
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, UncategorizedMy friend Mark Herrmann of Aon writes for Above The Law, sharing his insights as an inside lawyer. I read his post religiously because I learn a lot. Today, Mark wrote Inside Straight:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Ignorance about the fact that in his new job, he doesn’t know as much… Continue Reading
Some thoughts on “The Low Delta Firm”
Posted in Commentary, People, Places and BlawgsMy friend Pam Woldow of Edge International writes a fantastic blog, At the Intersection, “where General Counsel and Law Firms connect.” It is a must read, most recently shown by Pam’s post, The Low Delta Firm. Pam writes: Client demands for better efficiency, predictability, cost-effectiveness and communication are being translated into a new set of… Continue Reading
Billing when you add no value
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and Alternatives, UncategorizedI just received a bill from my local counsel on a very small case. The bill is less than $200, but I am annoyed. Why? Because I am getting billed (in 3 separate entries) for reviewing an order granting our pro hac vice motion (.1), drafting a letter to me forwarding the order (.2) and… Continue Reading
One great client
Posted in Commentary, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedSome clients make you love working for them. They make you want to excel. They bring out the best you have to offer. DSW is one such client, and I just have to share the experience we had yesterday. In December, we won a trial for DSW. It was the company’s first trial–they want to… Continue Reading
Scoring client service–great idea from Matt Homann
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, People, Places and BlawgsI loved this post by Matt Homann suggesting lawyers score their client service on the quality of the client’s experience as well as the quality of the result. Matt’s “scorecard” is included at left. Matt’s suggestion is to ask your clients to show where you fit in the quality of experience/quality of result chart and… Continue Reading
Do you have a muse?
Posted in CommentaryI just read a terrific post on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, To Inspire Innovation, Get a Muse. Michael Schrage starts his post with this: Yves Saint Laurent and Pablo Picasso — brilliant entrepreneurs as well as celebrated artistes — claimed inspiration from muses.So, apparently, did Steve Jobs. Perhaps the newly-knighted Sir Jonathan Ive… Continue Reading