Alternative Legal Billing -- Win Win Strategies

Written by Dan Harris


Inrepparttar old days of legal billing, lawyer's invoices — usually a single page of elegant letterhead—contained onlyrepparttar 104617 phrase, "legal services rendered," and a hefty dollar amount. No time breakdowns, no list of activities performed or equipment and supplies used—just a final, usually shocking, charge.

But client demands andrepparttar 104618 evolution of sophisticated billing software have led to more detailed invoices today. Itemized statements have triggered discussion among businesses about whether hourly billing isrepparttar 104619 best way to be charged for legal services. Asrepparttar 104620 legal profession becomes more competitive and dependent on high quality customer service, lawyers need to embrace alternate billing methods.

Fixed or flat fees, contingency fees, non-refundable retainers with discounted hourly fees, blended hourly fees and variations on those themes are becoming increasingly common. But many law firms have been slow to join this trend — lawyers still perform approximately 95 percent of their corporate legal work on an hourly basis.

What does that mean for your small business? If your company is currently working with a law firm or looking for legal counsel, try requesting alternate billing options. While many law firms rarely initiate different options, they'll negotiate when brought torepparttar 104621 table. If you want something better thanrepparttar 104622 old "bill byrepparttar 104623 hour" deal, try presenting one of these billing structures:

Project billing for routine issues

Questions To Ask Your Legal Counsel

Isrepparttar 104624 attorney experienced in business law or just practicing it between drafting wills and selling homes? Doesrepparttar 104625 attorney give advice in plain language or does he use a lot of jargon? Is there good "chemistry" between you andrepparttar 104626 attorney? Arerepparttar 104627 attorney's ethics and goals clear? What'srepparttar 104628 attorney's track record with other businesses similar to yours? If your legal needs include large but repetitive tasks, consider a flat-fee approach, also known as project billing. If you need legal assistance on a large research project involving several repetitive tasks with a fair amount of predictability for cost estimation and time duration, request a dollar cap for predetermined services. Be sure to compare estimated costs atrepparttar 104629 equivalent hourly rate—a projected cap that far exceeds any likely bill is really no cap at all.

Once you get a project billing estimate, don't hesitate to shop around. Making an informed decision — shopping around, comparing prices and services with other law firms — is good business sense, especially if you intend to hire a firm for a single project. If you anticipate establishing a long-term relationship, mention this as you're negotiating a project amount — a firm may provide a better deal if it expects future work from your company.

Results-oriented options

Positioning Professional Service Firms

Written by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan


Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gaverepparttar first public demonstration of television in 1926 in Soho, London. Ten years later there were only 100 TV sets inrepparttar 104616 world.

So, how does this relate to service firms? About a century after Claude Hopkins wrote his marketing masterpiece, Scientific Advertising, only a handful of professional firms understand and practise proper positioning.

So, to helprepparttar 104617 situation a little bit, let us discuss in a few words how service businesses scan better position themselves for higher demand, recognition and compensation.

In terms of market positioning professional service businesses fall into one of three distinct categories.

* Commodity type volume work

* Commercialised "one size fits all" approach

* Highly personalised premium work

COMMODITY VOLUME WORK

The mantra of this kind of business is tactically out-brawnrepparttar 104618 competition with backbreaking hard work and bottomachingly low prices, earning a living through sheer brute drudgery. This is basicallyrepparttar 104619 Wal-Mart approach of providing professional services.

This type of firms deal with a preponderance of customers (definitely no clients), employing an army of trade barbarians (people with great technical skills but as total lack of other necessary skills) and churning out high volume of low margin deliverables, such as workshops, websites, etc.

The typical examples of these businesses are web site developers and seminar companies. These firms have rigid policies and procedures to follow, andrepparttar 104620 idea is that they can hire low-skilled underpaid "labourers" who have enough skills to followrepparttar 104621 procedure manual even with their eyes shut and standing on their heads.

In these firms we cannot talk about careers. They offer jobs for their people for short-term survival. Usually people take these jobs as stop-gap measures, but do their best to move on as quickly as humanly possible.

These firms specialise on solving very specific problems in very specific ways. For example: You have a computer problem, so we install a new IBM server. The solution to every problem is an IBM server.

When you are an IBM partner and receive a kickback on your sales from IBM, thenrepparttar 104622 solution to everything happens to berepparttar 104623 most expensive IBM "box".

"In your specific case you need good old mercury filling" - says your dentist, who also happens to be a shareholder inrepparttar 104624 local mercury mine.

Fee sensitivity is very high in these firms and they are willing to drop their prices in order to land any business. Rememberrepparttar 104625 motto is high volume work whatever it takes.

To compensate for low price though, these firms employ armies of junior staff on their projects, and they can make up for their low fees in asking for a low hourly rate for an army of people.

One ofrepparttar 104626 problems these firms are facing is that tomorrow someone else may be willing to dorepparttar 104627 same work cheaper, sorepparttar 104628 commodity firm goes down is history as a perfect loser.

Commodity firms run on very high overheads, and often one way of cutting overheads is cutting corners.

Since these firms operate like manufacturing plants, it is vitally important to implement quality assurance and productivity measurement processes. The value-added components of these firms are their processes, procedures and internal operating methods.

Most of these firms are operated and managed like large corporations, and operate more as contractors than as consultants. The personal touch is almost non-existent andrepparttar 104629 emphasis is on churning outrepparttar 104630 next piece of work and moving on.

COMMERCIALISED "OUR UNIQUE APPROACH" TYPE WORK

These firms have extensive institutional experience at solving certain types of problems. Individual talents are largely ignored because everyone is expected to feedrepparttar 104631 firm’s institutional competency.

These firms' engagements have less diagnosis and more implementation of predictable, off-the-shelf solution. At this level there is some collaboration with clients, butrepparttar 104632 work is largely based onrepparttar 104633 "doing it for you" approach.

There is quite a bit of leverage. The senior “consultant” (consultant? Gag me with a spoon!). The senior peddler just enough grey onrepparttar 104634 temples comes and closesrepparttar 104635 deal, and then an army of junior staff descends onrepparttar 104636 poor client to implementrepparttar 104637 project and bump up billable time.

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