An Act of Altruism or a Cry of Pain
Recently, a colleague sent me an article from Forbes entitled “Kill the Billable Hour”. The author was a self proclaimed trial lawyer from a large law firm began by telling his readers how he was able to charge a lot for each of his hours and he could bill as many hours as he wanted for him and his associates. However, he and his wife had new kitchen installed and they agreed on a turn-key price with a contractor. Apparently, this experience resulted in something akin to rebirth in which in the spirit of altruism he wanted to inform his clients and all clients of lawyers that they should treat their lawyers like a construction contractor. Kill that billable hour he argued; get that fixed price he urged—well, not really a fixed price because he tried complicated cases which were highly unpredictable so he could only sort of fix the price.
The problem with this analysis is that I would not put in a kitchen the way he did. I have a heavy duty Delta shaper and a Delta Unisaw, as well as an 8” jointer and a 13” thickness planer among other tools so I built and installed my own raised panel cherry cabinets. Similarly, with plumbing, electrical and plaster board—I can do it all. So, how did I deal with the billable hour decades ago—I told my outside lawyers they could bill whatever they wanted as long as it was less than I could do it for, or learn to do it .
Needless to say I tried a lot of my own cases.
I know you cannot do that—trust me I have heard every explanation as to why, so don’t try to explain. But don’t worry the altruism of the lawyer in the article is a sign that there is a lot less litigation—in fact chances are really good that there is so much less litigation that this lawyer is not being altruistic at all—he is looking for business and his discovery of flat rate billing version 10.2 is simply a ploy to attract clients who he believes will be lured by his new found generosity.
Why am I so cynical? First, if he really had the license to steal he claims he has, which presumably he developed his career on, he would be reluctant to part with it for the good of mankind. Second, although the present attack on the billable hour seems new and creative; those of us with a few years tend to look at it and moan; “Here we go again.” Finally, for those of you who read this blog regularly you would have seen my blogs on flat rate billing and the difficulty firms have in selling this concept to the very customers who claim they want it.
The article is about the economic state of the legal profession—not the billable hour and perhaps the fact that lawyers’ ability to pay for new kitchens might not be as easy as it has been in the past.
Check out ACC's Value Challenge on the changing landscape of working with outside counsel and the billable hour.
