Engagement & Fees

 
I experienced firsthand the pressures placed on in-house counsel to operate under tight budget constraints.  Increasingly, the dramatic rise in outside legal expenses is a primary source of frustration and tension between in-house lawyers and the company's senior business executives, and correspondingly between inside and outside counsel.   The typical law firm's multilayered approach to providing legal services -- involving junior and mid-level associates, together with junior and senior partners -- along with the high overhead costs involved in running a larger law firm, are major contributing factors to these skyrocketing fees.   In a recent Association of Corporate Counsel-sponsored survey of over two hundred corporate law departments, the company attorneys placed rising costs at the top of their list of concerns about their outside counsel.

I understand this reality and have configured my firm accordingly.  Because I have minimal overhead and take full advantage of technological innovation and integration, I can afford to bill at a significantly lower rate than my contemporaries who are partners at larger law firms and I have the freedom not to charge for small incidental expenses.  Moreover, I do not have to build into my fee structure the costs associated with training junior associates and non-legal staff.  As a result, my clients get the benefit of my skills and expertise at a significantly lower cost. 

I am committed to working with my clients to structure creative and alternative fee arrangements that result in a win-win for all of us.  Thus, I prefer to work on a project or fixed-fee basis, though will charge by time if requested by the client or when the project so dictates.  Moreover, I believe that attorneys should not bill their clients for everyday expenses that are their costs of doing business.  Therefore, I do not charge for local or long distance phone charges, postage, faxes, copies, local transportation, and the like.  Where expenditures outside of the ordinary are necessary or prudent, I work with my clients to identify the most cost-effective approach; and I never bill expenses above my actual costs.

My engagement letter sets forth in detail the parameters surrounding the attorney-client relationship up-front, including the scope of engagement and fees, as well as provides an opportunity to qualify and where possible quantify client expectations, deliverables, timelines, and budgets.  At the end of a project or engagement, I actively solicit client feedback.