Who's a lawyer out there?

Question

In what field do you work? Billable or flat fee or percentage? How do you like it?

I do general business and litigation, billable hour. Enjoy it so far :-) (Just took a bar exam for a second state, though - anything is more enjoyable than studying for that....)

-j.

Answer 1

I just finished the California Bar in July, and planning for Oregon next February, so I empathize.

But I was a paralegal for years before that, and I did systems consulting, mediation and counseling well for over a decade before that. So, I have some standard billing practices.

I usually charge hourly for small jobs, and by the week (semi-flat rate) for larger jobs. When I'm working multiple tasks at once, it's usually always hourly, unless it's a well-established task (research one particular KeyCite topic within one jurisdiction, design a customer records database, one custody mediation, etc) in which case I charge a flat fee based on the number of hours it usually takes.

I expect the same billing pattern to continue when I enter the law practice as well (when we finally get bar results back). I relieves any stress over payment, and allows me to focus more on the task at hand rather than deal with billing issues. I got burned too many times as a consultant over billing matters when I was being generous.

I rarely take contingency or percentage gigs, except for percentages of royalties or something like that. I don't like the idea of contingency fees because it feels like a conflict of interest. Even when I was doing consulting. I know both ABA and California rules allow it for attorneys (and it was on the Cal July 2006 essay). But it still feels to me like having an interest in the outcome, and I work better without that (from experience). In a large case, I might be willing to take a small percentage offset, say 66% of the normal hourly against a 5%-10% contingency on the award.

Anyway, good luck in your results.

Answer 2

I've been practicing in California since 1993 and I offer all 3 types of arrangements. It just depends on the matter.

If I am incorporating a business or filing a bankruptcy for someone, that has a easily defineable set of services and can doe those for a flat fee. I sometimes handle debt collection cases on a contingent fee basis for clients that are concerned about the cost of going after bad debt. Most of the rest of what I do is hourly, but some business clients do pay me a flat retainer to have me available.

Answer 3

ending a 40 year career have law degrees from nyu and uconn had a great run but wouldnt recommend it for newbies. unless youre in the top echelons it can be a tough hard go.

you must find a way to make $ on a factory type basis ie real estate closings, chapter 13 etc

good luch i hand you the torch