The whole question is: do
alternative fees work better, all things considered?
To accurately assess the risks and rewards requires a significant number of cases — the law of large numbers has to permit the experience and variety of circumstances necessary to make
alternative fees work.
Not exact matches
If the clients you're
working with are of low income or experiencing financial difficulties, you might charge a lower rate or offer
alternative forms of payment, such as reduced
fees, sliding scale or barter of services.
Of course I wish that the proposal for a graduate tax put forward now by the hon. Gentleman's leader, which comes from a party that introduced tuition
fees having previously said that it would not do so, would
work and that it was an
alternative that we could implement.
If you want to progress to Degree level you can do so whilst in
work, earning a wage and it's a great
alternative to leaving university in debt due to
fees and loans — it's a win - win for Apprenticeships!
Groups of proven, practiced, seasoned beta readers could step into that middle ground, schedule their
work together, charge a respectable
fee, run a simple site and listings for themselves, and get some authors past that friends - and - family
alternative.
If you are unable to pay, we may be able to
work on an
alternative payment plan that will avoid additional
fees or penalties.»
The Captain Care volunteers
work to offer assistance for veterinary care, pet food, supplies, spay / neuter, identification tags, humane euthanasia (as an
alternative to sending ailing, and / or elderly pets to an animal control agency where they are held and then put down), as well as assistance for low - income families who may need help with fines /
fees for impounded pets.
All of the major airlines continue to
work with customers to rebook them or arrange
alternative travel, offering a variety of waivers for change
fees, ticket price differences and other expenses.
The City Miler's take: If you fly Delta and can use the perks, but either don't travel with a companion often (for instance, if most of your travel is for
work), or don't like the idea of the $ 195 annual
fee, this is a good
alternative to the Delta Platinum card.
The Firm offers a wide range of
alternative fee arrangements that
work best for the unique situations in which clients find themselves.
Once charged the light will last six hours, giving rural communities an
alternative to expensive, polluting and unhealthy kerosene, and allowing people to
work or study past dusk, communicate with the outside world, and freeing up cash for school
fees or agricultural inputs.
The
fee works by making the cost to achieve carbon neutrality a line item in the operating budgets of Microsoft's business units across more than 100 countries, establishing a powerful incentive for each group to find lower - carbon
alternatives and to invest in carbon - saving initiatives and innovations.
In some cases, you will find that different legal cloud - computing systems have partnerships and therefore
work together well as part of a seamless system, and because it is a
fee - based service, you can expect that there will be more flexible and helpful customer - service
alternatives available.
Microsoft is aiming for 90 % of its external legal
work to be carried out under
alternative fee arrangements - but what do its law firms think?
Many who use
alternative fees (and flat
fees in particular) think that they
work best for routine
work.
Whether you bill hourly or use
alternative fee arrangements, knowing how much
work you're putting into a matter versus how much you think you should or want to put into it is critical.
So it is economically easy to perform fixed
fee work when the
alternative is sitting around doing nothing.
Unlike most law firms that bill clients based on the total billable hours each lawyer
works on a particular matter, M&A Law Firm, P.C. employs a variety of
alternative fee structures.
If you have experience with
alternative fees, think about how they apply to the
work identified in the RFP.
Ken Callander shocked some of the audience by describing
alternative fees, including those for litigation: «In my practice, I
work with companies» in - house departments, moving them off hourly
fees and on to value - based
fee arrangements.
At that point, I think solos have a choice if they want to increase earnings: either diversify their business model to take on
alternative fee or contingency cases, or outsource or hire an associate, and earn a profit off that person's
work.
According to Allstate managing counsel Bruce Goldberg, the system allows the insurance giant to
work out
alternative fee arrangements with these 13 firms (about half of them are smaller regional firms in the northwest, Ohio, West Virginia, and New Jersey).
Despite discussions about
alternative fee arrangements and the changing times for the business of law, many clients and law firms still deal with compensation for legal
work based on the billable hour.
Gordon McCue, associate general counsel for strategy and coordination at Shell (pictured right), says his department has introduced an
alternative fee arrangement programme that means Shell's panel firms must agree to do
work on its terms.
We are always willing to consider
alternative methods of charging, for example capped
fees for distinct parcels of
work.
Microsoft wants 90 % of the legal
work performed by its outside firms to be compensated under
alternative fee arrangements — an increase of as much as 35 %, according to figures Howard gave Corporate Counsel.
There are firms willing to take on
work at a lower hourly rate, for example, but they remain tied to the hourly rate model; they're not necessarily willing to move to
alternative fees.
(ii) confirm that he can meet the timetable set, or propose an
alternative; (iii) request any additional material he will need before starting his
work; and (iv) provide an estimate of his
fee.
The typical
alternative to the billable hour model is where a piece of
work, say a slip and fall case, is billed by by the lawyer on a flat
fee instead of by the hour.
It found that most law firms continue to rely on traditional billing for the majority of their
work, and law firms are on whole less delighted with
alternative fees than the corporate law departments they serve.
is able to pair the extensive talents and experience of our professionals with lower
fees and creative
alternative fee arrangements, while maintaining the highest levels of quality
work and professionalism you have come to expect from large law firms.
We exist to enable and facilitate the profitable use of popular
Alternative Fee Arrangements («AFAs») now demanded by corporate legal departments by using traditional project management skills to more accurately estimate, track and monitor the scope of
work and costs in legal matters.
He has over 15 years» experience in consultative
work and research achieving recognition as an expert in profitability, matter management,
alternative fee arrangements, and partner compensation.
An article in Inside Counsel gives five strategies clients can use to prevent «runaway legal
fees,» claiming that although more «companies are moving to
alternative fee arrangements, seeking either fixed or flat
fees to cover legal
work over a period of time,....
• Barrier: It requires change —
working smarter, not harder • Redefining «quality:» Successful projects delivering compelling value • Key clarification / recognition: •
Alternative Fees ≠ Less Revenue
Alternative fees and discount arrangements with law firms were at the top of the list, in addition to strategies small legal departments have employed to take more
work in - house as a cost - saving measure.
With the growing trend of fixed
fee pricing,
alternative fee arrangements, and other pre-arranged cost structures for legal
work, it is more important than ever for a researcher to know several things that don't relate to the problem their research is attempting to answer:...
I think there are a couple of circumstances where a legal department would not be able to have an
alternative fee arrangement
work.
No one likes unpleasant surprises and we will always consider how
alternative charging might
work for each client including discounted rate, conditional
fee agreements and third party funding options.
«I think [2012] is going to be the last year where people will get away with trying to meet a client's demands by offering
alternative fee arrangements; after that it is
working differently.»
Alternative fees have been on the rise, and those firms and legal service providers that can offer billable arrangements that are more consistent with client goals will win and retain the
work.
When it comes to intellectual property, for instance, the firm revealed that the typical IP portfolio for a client ranged between 50 to 400 foreign and domestic filings, and that nearly one - third of its patent
work was done through
alternative fee arrangements.
In fact, they so strongly believe that the billable hour model does not encourage the type of innovation and collaboration that Microsoft decided to move, over the next two years, to a
fee model where some 90 % of its legal
work will be done via
alternative flat
fees.
But now, tired of subsidizing law firm gravy trains, large corporate clients are forcing firms to offer
alternative billing arrangements, such as flat
fees, volume discounts and banning new associates from
working on matters.
It is the firm's policy to
work with our clients to develop rate structures and billing procedures that are mutually agreeable, including
alternative billing arrangements such as fixed or task - based
fees, contingent
fees and volume - based discounted
fees.
Determining what
alternative fee arrangement will depend on your department, your budget, your outside counsel and the types of projects you're
working on.
Rather than basing
fees on the number of hours
worked, examples of
alternative fee arrangements include fixed
fees, negotiated
fees for a group of assignments, or success - based
fees.
But Embry believes that the
work in a mass tort case can be «unbundled» so that much of the commodity type
work is done by
alternative legal service providers at flat
fees.
«Facing the
Alternative: How Does a Flat
Fee System Really
Work?»