.png)
The Greatest American Lawyer has a neat discussion going over at his blog on this topic. Below is my comment. Suggest you click the link above though to get the full perspective.
The "History" of the billable hour might be of some interest andhelp attorneys to understand why it seems that billing clientsby-the-hour when we are supposed to be their advocate & trustedadvisor seems like such a square peg in a round hole.
In point of fact, for more than a thousands years lawyers did NOTbill by the hour. Instead it was always value based billing. Then inthe 1960's the insurance companies came along and hired efficiencyexperts to reign-in their legal expenses. . .
If you're interested in learning "the rest of the story", send me anemail to rjon@howtomakeitrain.com and I'll send the you the whole thingback in an email. Complete with some pretty interesting citations.Fascinating stuff. Really puts everything into perspective I think.
But for me, the worst thing about the billable hour is that it takesall the fun out of the practice of law and causes lawyers to make LESSmoney than they otherwise could with a properly-designed value/flat-feebilling system. (Remember, before I was the Rainmaker I was a PracticeManagement Advisor with The Florida Bar's Law Office ManagementAssistance Service.)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)