In my experience so far, the success
of alternative billing arrangements is dependent on a number of factors:
Much like diving into the blog world, in - house counsel need to take the plunge into the world
of alternative billing arrangements.
Your partners» responses to the following questions will offer valuable insight about the firm's willingness and ability to «accept and live with» one or more types
of alternative billing arrangements.
(2) Select which form, or forms,
of alternative billing arrangements your firm will make available, and what percentage of your firm's legal work you will handle under alternative billing arrangements.
On alternative fees: Clients, not firms, have been the greater barrier to adoption
of alternative billing arrangements, panelists suggested.
Your partner's responses to the following questions will offer valuable insight about the firm's willingness and ability to «accept and live with» one or more types
of alternative billing arrangements.
Select which forms
of alternative billing arrangements your firm will make available and what percentage of your firm's legal work you will handle under alternative billing arrangements.
Clients can be skeptical
of alternative billing arrangements when they do not understand how those arrangements will benefit them.
Most of the ideas are fairly obvious — lower starting salaries for new associates combined with increased training, a menu
of alternative billing arrangements for clients, creation of client - centric practices such as frequent evaluations and client wikis to keep clients informed.
Not exact matches
As the economic model
of law firms changes with the rise
of alternative billing structures to the billable hour, there may be more room for creativity in providing flexibile work
arrangements for lawyers.
If attorneys avail themselves
of the advances in computer technology in the past decade or two, they can more easily come up with flat fees or other
alternative billing arrangements — and continue to make a profit, Calloway says.
«Document automation software reduces the cost
of producing court documents and letters, enabling greater price flexibility at a time when
alternative billing arrangements are growing in popularity,» said Bass.
Variations
of hourly
billings, fixed fee
billing, contingent fee
arrangements and other forms
of «
alternative billing» are no longer merely isolated experiences.
The type
of legal work performed for your clients, the nature
of your client base, the competitive environment in which your firm practices and the client's perception
of the value
of the legal work performed will be critical factors in determining whether your firm should volunteer or react to external pressures for
alternative billing arrangements from your clients or as the result
of competitive pressures created by other law firms.
's clients can choose to utilize
alternative fee
arrangements such as fixed costs, capped fees and / or «value
billing» (or a mix
of all three).
But FMC is clear: Lawyers must be willing to embrace
alternative billing arrangements to stand a chance
of being hired.
There has been a steady onslaught against the billable hour in recent years, not least
of which is such as the demand by many clients for
alternative billing arrangements.
In fact, lawyers who solicit and utilize other marketing techniques and
alternative billing arrangements may find many disenchanted clients
of other firms receptive to the idea
of changing lawyers.
The type
of legal work performed for your clients, the nature
of your client base, the competitive environment in which your firm practices and the client's perception
of the value
of the legal work performed will be critical factors in determining (a) whether your firm should volunteer or (b) react to external pressures for
alternative billing arrangements from your clients or as the result
of competitive pressures created by other law firms.
RH: The law practice
of the future will be more virtual and technology - driven with
alternative billing arrangements.
The ALM report surveyed 141 in - house law departments and 194 law firms on their use
of — and satisfaction with —
alternative billing arrangements.
Led by the Association
of Corporate Counsel's «ACC Value Challenge,» corporate America is increasingly demanding that their outside law firms abandon the entrenched, historic, «cost - plus,» «billable hour» economic pricing model in favor
of «
Alternative Fee
Arrangements» («AFAs») and other «value billing» approaches (e.g., non-hourly pricing arrangements such as «fixed fee,» «contingency,» or «hybrid» fee ar
Arrangements» («AFAs») and other «value
billing» approaches (e.g., non-hourly pricing
arrangements such as «fixed fee,» «contingency,» or «hybrid» fee ar
arrangements such as «fixed fee,» «contingency,» or «hybrid» fee
arrangementsarrangements).
And a lot
of the issues that are driving the necessity
of this new strategic outlook, or positioning, may be new technology,
alternative billing arrangements, the fee structure, obviously, the generational mix... diversity, etc..»
she asked, referencing the revolution around value - based
billing,
alternative fee
arrangements, and disaggregation
of legal services.
Key Metric # 3:
Alternative Fee
Arrangement (AFA) Usage AFAs used in 9.4 %
of matters and 7.0 %
of billings in the past year 3b Based on trailing 12 - months ending December 31, 2015
Variations
of hourly
billings, fixed - fee
billing, contingent fee
arrangements and other forms
of «
alternative billing» are no longer merely isolated experiences.
The type
of legal work performed for your clients, the nature
of your client base, the competitive environment in which your firm practices and the client's perception
of the value
of the legal work performed will be critical factors in determining two things: Whether your firm should volunteer; or React to external pressures for
alternative billing arrangements from your clients or as the result
of competitive pressures created by other firms.
The more sophisticated business and corporate clients are insisting that outside counsel implement
alternative billing arrangements in lieu
of the traditional hourly - rate
billing, which encourages and rewards inefficient performance and management
of legal work, and discourages productivity and quick achievement
of client objectives.
In most
of our plaintiff's matters, we are willing to explore
alternative billing arrangements, with Lightfoot sharing the risk and expense attendant to all litigation.
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.
Figure 7: Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report Key Metric # 3:
Alternative Fee
Arrangements used in 10 %
of matters and 6 %
of billings in the past year Based on trailing 12 - months ending June 30, 2013
This chart shows the %
of billings under an
Alternative Fee
Arrangement (AFA) by firms
of different sizes.
With counsel pursuing more and more non-traditional fee
arrangements, the percentage
of Corporate, General Tax matters having
billings under some sort
of alternative fee
arrangement has risen from 9 % in the last report to 12.5 % in this latest report.
Key Metric # 3:
Alternative Fee
Arrangement (AFA) Usage AFAs used in 8.6 %
of matters and 7.3 %
of billings in the past year Based on trailing 12 - months ending June 30, 2015
Nicole Auerbach and Patrick Lamb
of ElevateNext have been perfecting their skills in implementing
alternative fee
arrangements — with a disciplined refusal to
bill by the hour — for an entire decade in full view
of the rest
of the legal industry.
Competition for corporate, business and individual clients will cause traditional hourly
billing rates to be replaced by variations
of hourly
billing arrangements, contingency and fixed fee and combination
of these
alternatives.
[O] ver 80 percent
of senior in - house counsel attendees said they believed law firms should share the risk
of budget overruns, yet inexplicably, less than 5 percent had put into effect
alternative billing arrangements to create risk sharing.
One way they are tackling these challenges is by replacing conventional hourly
billing with a variety
of alternative fee
arrangements (AFAs).
The
alternative billing arrangements may better align a client's perception
of the value
of legal services and management
of legal resources.
Access to accounting and
billing data allows firm management to assess the financial impact
of key clients or matters, or to support decisions on
alternative fee
arrangements
Fees are controlled through a combination
of strong
billing guidelines, rational
alternative fee
arrangements, real - time feedback on performance, streamlining
of staffing, strategy, and tactics, early exploration
of settlement and ADR, and so on.
Corporate clients in the current buyers» market are increasingly demanding lower, fixed prices and value - based
Alternative Fee
Arrangements («AFAs») in lieu
of hourly
billing — making law firms bear the «risk
of loss» in uncertain but complex litigation and transaction matters — even as the costs
of running law firms continue to climb.
Key Metric # 3:
Alternative Fee
Arrangement (AFA) Usage AFAs used in 12 %
of matters and 7 %
of billings in the past year Based on trailing 12 - months ending December 31, 2013
Kimberly has developed and implemented business strategy and process improvements, managed the successful integration
of legal teams, and applied market data and performance metrics to set
billing rates, negotiate
alternative fee
arrangements, optimize staffing levels, and increase client value.
I can pull together teams
of top - flight attorneys with specific skill sets for both large and small deals and can offer clients
alternative billing arrangements that are appropriate for their needs and the requirements
of the deal.
Overall, the percentage
of matters that have
billings under some sort
of alternative fee
arrangement (AFA) has remained fairly stable at approximately 9 %
of matters and 7 %
of billings (See Key Metric # 3).
For example, in 2014, 45 %
of CounselLink customers were
billed under an
alternative fee
arrangement for Corporate, General, Tax matters compared to 39 % in 2013.
Key Metric # 3:
Alternative Fee
Arrangement (AFA) Usage AFAs used in 9 %
of matters and 7 %
of billing Based on trailing 12 months ending December 31, 2014
Carrying over from the last few years is a decline in the use
of alternative fee
arrangements — 3.2 per cent said AFAs were the
billing arrangement they had with their primary law firm / external service provider, which was a slight drop from 4.9 per cent last year and a considerable drop from 12.7 per cent in 2015.
As Peter Gutelius, an assistant general counsel with RBC, says in the current issue
of Canadian Lawyer InHouse: «It depends what title you want to put on it —
alternative arrangements or value
billing — we have done it and believe it can be applied to any legal retainer.»