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

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Specifically, they want to know more about flat-fe billing, a method that can prove more client-friendlty than hourly billing. Some attorneys say billingv by the hour serves neither clientds nor the legal profession as well as charging uniform fees basee onprovided services. Law firms in this article refused to divulge theirhourly fees, but the median hourlh billable rate in Oregonn is $230 per hour. Attorney s average 123 billable hoursper month, according to the Oregonn State Bar. While requests for flat-fee billing come from clientzs ofall sizes, not all clients merit it.
“It’s a growin g trend among larger clients,” said Wallyt Van Valkenburg, managing partner for Portland’sx . “Those with larger volumes of work thinkk they can price it in a way that makes sensew to bothof us. But for mid-sized and early-stagee companies, firms are less receptive to thosd typeof prices.” Whilee Stoel Rives mulls more requests for flat-feed billing and also volume discounts, othe attorneys have embraced new ideas. “I’d like to do it if I can figuree out a way to do it withoutgoingt broke,” said Peter Appleton, a Salem-based sole proprietor specializinhg in business issues.
“Look at the medicap profession: They charge certain amounts for certaij operations because they know in advance how much time it takesz todo it. “If I were a client, I woulxd definitely want this, at least for simple things like wills andestate planning.” Ambrosw Law Group LLC, a Portland-based banking and financial specialist, has billed via flat fees for 10 Chris Ambrose said the groupp continually modifies its fee but tends to use flat-fee billinh for such services as loan documentation and draftin development agreements.
It does not offer the optionj when working on cases that likely require litigatiomn because such cases can drag on for Thefirm hasn’t experienced major revenue be they positive or negative, but retaina a loyal client “It gives them predictability,” Ambrosee said.“One of the biggest problems in the legall field is surprise billing,” The debate over alternativs billing methods comes as clients seek to slashg expenses during tough economic The state’s unemployment rate continues to exceed 12 percenr and even , known for doling out work to most of Portland’s larger legal firms, laid off 500 workere on May 14.
Using flat-fere billing doesn’t necessarily mean a firm will make less The ShepherdLaw Group, in Boston, begaj using flat-fee billing on Jan. 1, 2007. Revenure that year rose by 250 percen t comparedto 2006. The firm’s 2008 revenu also rose, states a July 2008 article in the Americanb BarAssociation Journal. However, many law firms have resisterd the urge to chargeflat fees. Firmsa typically require their attorneyas towork 1,800 billable hours before issuingh bonuses. Most legal billinbg is done on an hourly basid and chargedin six-minut increments.
However, Lewis Horowitz, the Portland-based president of Northwest law firm LanePowelol PC, said the industry tends to police “Lawyers have trouble doing anything but top-quality he said. “That’s why they prefer to get paid by the Because if they uncoveran issue, they want to fix Nonetheless, Lane Powell also wants to keep its clients allowing certain larger clients that have been with the firm for many yearss to pay flat fees. One of them is a real estatse outfit that’s currently workinh on 50 deals. Anotherd is a commercial Realtor that hopes torenegotiatd 2,000 leases.
A third client is a largse employer that asks about 100 questions a year on equalopportunity employment. The flat fee amounts Horowitz offered thishypothetical example: If billed some employment questions may cost as much as $20,00 to resolve, if they require Others can cost as little as $3,000. So a law firm mighr charge flat fees ofabout $8,000 for advice on equal opportunity employment. “It workss best with clients with whom you have agood relationship,” Horowitx said. “And it’s not made available on a one-timre basis. We know about these matters and know whichj ones might explode and becomdereal litigation.
” The American Bar Association is lookinvg into ways to encourage more firms to charged flat fees.