Lawyers streets ahead

This article from Amanda Ellis should serve as a shock to practitioners. In it she describes an emerging type of law firm, mostly identifed in the US, but one that is blowing away its competition. Its characteristics:

• no minimum billable hour requirements
• no partners
• a 10-40 hour workweek
• average attorney salaries in the high $100,000s and mid-$200,000s
• the ability for attorneys to turn down an assignment
• and virtual offices.

Does that sound like Valhalla? What about this for stirring the pot:

In addition to lower hourly billing rates, many of the alternative firms also offer flat-fee or project-based billing. And, some firms have taken steps to give clients significant access to billing information. Virtual Law Partners for example, allows clients to view attorneys’ time as it’s entered on a weekly basis on the clients’ password-protected MyVLP homepage; clients and attorneys can also share documents through this secure webpage.

Ellis goes on to name the 13 firms she has come across. By today’s standards, they are all small but going after high value work. Only one from London: Vista Law – (10 attorneys) DC, London, Paris, Madrid. It’s a different style of working and one that professionals should find attractive. But how many continue to hold on to the idea they ‘need’ an office. As Ellis ponts out, the new style of firm is better able to compete because they don’t have the overheads of the traditional firm. That makes then an attractive proposition in the current economy.

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Tagged as: billing, Lawyers and Law Firms