Quote of the Day: But How Much Do They Charge?
Which firms had the highest billing rates in 2012? Which had the lowest? Click here to find out!
Inside Straight: What Really Is Billable?
Which tasks are properly billable to the client, and which tasks are not? In-house columnist Mark Herrmann, who has been on both the law firm and in-house sides, spots some issues.
Legal Is Changing. And NeoSummit Is Where The Future Is Being Built.
Legal and operational leaders are gathering May 6–7 in Fort Lauderdale to confront the questions the industry hasn't answered—with a keynote from Amanda Knox setting the tone.
Legal Fee Voyeurism: American Airlines’s Big-Time Bankruptcy Bills
How much are American Airlines's advisors seeking to be paid for their work in the mega-bankruptcy case? Enough to buy a Gulfstream jet, or two....
Buying In: Partner Paydays (Part 2)
Additional thoughts from the Anonymous Partner on partner compensation at large law firms.
Buying In: Partner Paydays (Part 1)
Wherein our Anonymous Partner further explicates the growing partner compensation spread at nearly all Biglaw shops.
Inside Straight: How To Drive Outside Counsel Nuts!
In-house lawyers: do you engage in any of these annoying behaviors, which are guaranteed to drive outside counsel crazy?
LexisNexis Practical Guidance Rolls Out Dedicated Practice Area for AI & Technology
The new generation of AI-related legal issues are inherently cross-disciplinary, implicating corporate law, intellectual property, data privacy, employment, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.
New Data on Law Firm Partner Compensation
How much are law firm partners earning these days? And are they happy about it? A new survey has some answers.
The Practice: Engaging the Client, Before and After You’re Retained
Practical pointers from Brian Tannebaum, one of our small-firm columnists, on how to engage with your clients.
Morning Docket: 07.16.12
* Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one Supreme Court justice thinks that things will be back to normal at One First Street come the start of the next term, despite his colleagues’ loose lips. [National Law Journal] * Hourly billing rates for associate are on the rise nationwide, while partner and counsel billing rates only saw modest bumps. Is Biglaw back in business, or is this just another “retention strategy”? [New York Law Journal] * This is a really hard to believe newspaper headline: “Law firm recognizes employees have life outside of work.” Carlton Fields, what kind of gypsy voodoo magic spells are you casting? [South Florida Sun-Sentinel] * Another day, another editorial about the “irretrievably broken” state of legal education in our country. But the ABA admins needn’t worry their oblivious little heads, because people will keep applying. [New York Times] * And in today’s disturbing law school debtor news, Jason Bohn’s charge was upgraded to first-degree murder after a DA announced via indictment that Bohn allegedly intended to torture his victim. [New York Post] * “Quite frankly, these are the actions of a dirty old man.” You can look, but never lick: it’s not really a good thing when a judge uses a sentence like this to describe an attorney’s alleged client relations skills. [CBS News] * For it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball fraud game. Lenny Dykstra pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud among a potpourri of other felony counts, and he’ll now face up to 20 years in prison. [CNN]
From Biglaw to Boutique: A Moment of Truth
The changing market invites, if not demands, lawyers to offer concessions for clients. Happily, many of the concessions have relatively little impact on the firm’s bottom line, but can garner significant goodwill with clients. For example....
Opus 2 Steps Up Its AI Game With Acquisition Of A Legal Tech Startup
With the addition of Uncover’s technology, the litigation software is delivering rapid innovation.
Inside Straight: Things Will Not Return To Normal After The Recession!
Here’s a puzzle for you. What decade am I discussing in the following paragraphs? I’m doing something a little different here. The entire text of this column appears before the jump. I’ve hidden only the citations after the jump. Ponder while you read these paragraphs when the source materials supporting these words were written: The […]
Clients Won’t Pay For What Law Schools Churn Out
You spend three years of your life going to law school. You spend over a hundred thousand dollars on getting that education. You take a difficult entrance exam to prove that you are qualified to practice law. You'd think that after all that you'd be able to convince sophisticated clients of your value as a lawyer. You would, of course, be wrong....
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Pricing Legal Services in Eight Easy(ish) Steps
So Lat calls me up all excited about some Biglaw Midsummer Bonus or something, which I totally ignore, and also about some hysterical dicta that Judge Kozinski wrote, which I also ignore (although it probably was pretty funny), and then he starts asking me about my law career. Which, you know, ended. And he points […]
How Can a Lawyer ‘Settle’ for the Only Job He Can Get?
I’ve always wondered what kind of salary contract lawyers make these days. Okay, not really, I kind of already know, because a lot of my friends are contract lawyers. But for those of you who aren’t familiar with the wonderful world of contract lawyering, the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article yesterday, by Vanessa […]
Inside Straight: Alternative Fee Agreements For Beginners
Egad! The General Counsel just announced that your target for next year will be to handle 20 percent of all outside legal spend on an alternative fee basis! What do you do? You can’t just do flat fee agreements! What happens if you agree to pay too much, and you’ve given away your client’s money? […]