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Setting and Collecting Fees

Ideas for the Firm of the Future + One: Diversify Your Offerings

February 10, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Via Dan Pinnington at Slaw.ca, I learned of Merrilyn Tarlton’s excellent article, Figuring Out Your Place in the Race (ABA Law Practice Magazine, Jan/Feb. 2010).  Recognizing that technology advancements and economic upheaval have rendered extinct the high leverage business model, Tarlton predicts that “the future of the business of law is going to be about [...]

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Boutique Practice: Leaving the Land of Loss Leaders

February 4, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

The twenty-first century version of loss leaders, big-law style, is nothing more than old fashioned price cutting wars, observes Toby Brown at Three Geeks and a Law Blog.  A loss leader refers to a pricing strategy whereby a product is advertised below cost to lure customers in the hopes of selling them more profitable, big [...]

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Can you find cash for your clients?

September 15, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Are there cases that you’d avid to handle but your client can’t pay your fees?  Before you send the client packing, consider whether there are ways to cover the costs of the case. I’m not talking about litigation finance companies which can fund personal injury matters but come with their own set of perils.  However, [...]

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What Does the “Good Enough” Phenomenon Mean for Solos?

September 1, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

There’s been a discernible silence in the legal blogosphere over Robert Capps’ recent article, The Good Enough Revolution:  When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine from Wired.com.  Perhaps it’s because uber-trendspotter Jordan Furlong wrote about the Good Enough trend a full year ago and the topic is already yesterday’s news.  More likely, lawyers haven’t been [...]

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Jet Blue Be Nimble…But Can You?

August 19, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

By now, you’ve probably read about renegade airline Jet Blue‘s unlimited travel pass that allows customers to fly free between any of the airline’s 56 national or international destinations as many times as they want between September 8 and October 8, 2009.   Naturally, some deride the offer as a gimmick for JetBlue to make more [...]

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Why Is the Illinois Bar Advising Lawyers to Look Stupid By Admitting That They Can’t Estimate Fees?

August 4, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Via Illinois solo Peter Olson’s blog, Solo In Chicago, I came across this post on fee agreement essentials which Olson extracted from an Illinois State Bar Association newsletter.  Since my readers frequently ask about fee agreements, I was initially excited to discover a new resource.  But my delight soon turned to horror when I read the [...]

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Should You Charge for, Or Mark Up the Costs of Legal Research?

May 17, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Over at my Legal Blogwatch beat, I posted about an ongoing lawsuit against biglaw firm Chadbourne Park, alleging that Chadbourne wrongfully billed the client $20,000 for online research services when the actual cost to the firm was only around $5000.   The suit alleges that the firm engaged in deceptive trade practices in violation of state [...]

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An Interesting Technique for Getting Legal Fees Paid: Shouldn’t Lawyers Be Better Than Mobsters?

December 7, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Peter Olson’s Solo in Chicago is another one of those great, unsung blogs that’s been running for years, seamlessly marrying tips on starting a practice with Olson’s own experiences.  A few days ago, Olson posted a link to an article by legal consutant Ellen Freedman from the ISBA journal (not publicly available) entitled Don’t be [...]

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How Tollbridge Businesses Can Provide An Annual Revenue Stream for Solo and Small Firms

November 3, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Yes, I still read the local newspaper (in my case, the Washingtonpost) in hard copy every so often, and today I came across this article on the value of annuity contracts — or as Warren Buffett calls them toll bridge businesses — to small service providers like heating or air conditioning contractors. So what’s a [...]

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Hey Lawyers – What Ever Happened to Value Billing For Legal Services?

October 20, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

About four years ago, one of my very favorite bloggers, David Giacalone wrote this provocative post, Value Billing versus Value Bilking, arguing that in many instances, value billing represented just another way for lawyers to extract more money from clients when the billable hour didn’t yield as much.  Back then, I didn’t completely agree with [...]

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