Late last week, word began to spread that the world may soon witness another Biglaw mega-merger between international firm Nabarro and London-based firms CMS and Olswang. The combined entity would have more than 3,000 lawyers, and the firm would likely generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue.
Considering the current economic climate, how would this Biglaw behemoth be able to produce so much money during the transitional phase that typically follows a merger? Perhaps the combined firm will adopt Nabarro’s time-recording policy, which instructs attorneys to bill clients for any break of up to six minutes (bathroom breaks, etc.), as they’ll likely continue to be thinking about the matter they were working on.
The Daily Mail picked up the story today, which made waves across the pond sometime this summer thanks to RollOnFriday’s excellent reporting. Here’s Nabarro’s policy:
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When asked to explain this billing policy, a spokesperson from Nabarro said:
This approach to time recording is not unusual. Most businesses build natural breaks into the cost of their services. Indeed, some of our best legal minds have their best legal insights when they get up for a short break. Lunch is a different matter.
If you ever receive crappy advice from this mega-firm, you know who to blame.
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Law firm charges clients up to £100 for time they spend on the toilet because they are ‘still thinking about their clients’ [Daily Mail]
Exclusive: Nabarro lawyers told to charge clients while they’re on the loo [RollOnFriday]
It’s OK to bill clients while you’re on the toilet, Nabarro tells its solicitors [Legal Cheek]
Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.