Flat-fee billing settles in; billable hour stays king - bizjournals:

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Specifically, they want to know more about flat-fee billing, a methord that can prove more client-friendly than hourly Some attorneys say billing by the hour servesw neither clients nor the legaol profession as well as chargintg uniform fees based on provided Law firms in this articlse refused to divulge theirhourly fees, but the median hourly billable rate in Oregonn is $230 per Attorneys average 123 billable hours per month, accordinvg to the Oregon State Bar. Whild requests for flat-fee billing come from clients of all not all clientsmerit it. “It’s a growingf trend among larger clients,” said Wally Van Valkenburg, managinf partner for Portland’s .
“Those with larger volumes of work think they can price it in a way that makes sense to bothof us. But for mid-sizexd and early-stage companies, firms are less receptivde to those type of While Stoel Rives mulles more requestsfor flat-fee billing and also volumde discounts, other attorneys have embraced new ideas. “I’d like to do it if I can figurw out a way to do it withoutgoinh broke,” said Peter Appleton, a Salem-based sole proprietotr specializing in business “Look at the medical They charge certain amounts for certain operations because they know in advances how much time it taked to do it.
“If I were a client, I wouldd definitely want this, at least for simpld things like wills andestate planning.” Ambrosew Law Group LLC, a Portland-based banking and financia specialist, has billed via flat fees for 10 years. Chri s Ambrose said the group continually modifiew itsfee structures, but tends to use flat-fee billing for such servicezs as loan documentation and draftinbg development agreements. It does not offer the optio n when working on cases that likely require litigatiojn because such cases can drag on for Thefirm hasn’t experienced majot revenue effects, be they positive or but retains a loyal client base.
“It give s them predictability,” Ambrose said.“One of the biggestr problems in the legal field is surprise The debate over alternative billinv methods comes as clients seek to slash expensezs during tougheconomic times. The state’s unemploymentf rate continues to exceed 12 percent andeven , knowb for doling out work to most of Portland’s larger legal firms, laid off 500 workers on May 14. Usingg flat-fee billing doesn’t necessariluy mean a firm will makeless money. The Shephers Law Group, in began using flat-fee billing on Jan. 1, 2007. Revenue that year rose by 250 percent comparerdto 2006.
The firm’s 2008 revenue also states a July 2008 article in the American BarAssociation Journal. However, many law firms have resistedc the urge to chargeflat fees. Firms typically requirr their attorneys towork 1,800 billable hours before issuing bonuses. Most legal billing is done on an hourlyg basis and chargedin six-minute However, Lewis Horowitz, the Portland-based presidentr of Northwest law firm Lane Powell PC, said the industrgy tends to police itself. “Lawyer s have trouble doing anythingbut top-qualityy work,” he said. “That’s why they prefer to get paid by the Because if they uncoveran issue, they want to fix it.
” Lane Powell also wants to keep its clientsw happy, allowing certain larger clients that have been with the firm for many yeara to pay flat fees. One of them is a real estats outfit that’s currently working on 50 deals. Another is a commercial Realtor that hopes torenegotiates 2,000 leases. A third client is a larg employer that asks about 100 question a year on equalopportunitgy employment. The flat fee amountss vary. Horowitz offered this hypotheticalo example: If billed hourly, some employmenrt questions may cost as muchas $20,000 to resolve, if they require litigation. Otherz can cost as little as $3,000.
So a law firm mightt charge flat fees ofabout $8,00p0 for advice on equal opportunity “It works best with clientx with whom you have a good relationship,” Horowitz said. “Ans it’s not made available on a one-timwe basis. We know about these mattersw and know which ones might explode and becomsereal litigation.” The American Bar Association is looking into ways to encourag e more firms to charge flat fees.