The in-house lawyers survey has arrived in time for Christmas. If you work in-house, have your say about the firms that have been naughty and those that have been nice.
In the responses so far, a common refrain by in-house lawyers was the lack of certainty with invoices. A number of respondents urged firms to end hourly billing and move towards fixed fees. One sceptical in-house lawyer said "stop seeing my organisation as a cash cow to be milked at the end of each month when billing figures are short".
Firms were also lambasted for being too needy. One respondent complained about an associate at a city firm that needed constant hand-holding for a matter. Another client criticised a firm that sent daily updates and invitations for coffee "at every opportunity".
Lawyers that were able to get on with work unaided were viewed favourably. One respondent praised Addleshaw Goddard, saying they could leave the firm to the job, and they would "get it done", adding "it's amazing how many law firms don't understand how important that is".
For other clients, it took considerably less to impress them, as one in-house lawyer revealed "we continue to instruct Womble Bond Dickinson simply because we haven't yet exhausted our ‘over-ground under-ground’ jokes".
Tip Off ROF
In the responses so far, a common refrain by in-house lawyers was the lack of certainty with invoices. A number of respondents urged firms to end hourly billing and move towards fixed fees. One sceptical in-house lawyer said "stop seeing my organisation as a cash cow to be milked at the end of each month when billing figures are short".
Firms were also lambasted for being too needy. One respondent complained about an associate at a city firm that needed constant hand-holding for a matter. Another client criticised a firm that sent daily updates and invitations for coffee "at every opportunity".
"Don't think of me as your lawyer, think of me as your BFF" |
Lawyers that were able to get on with work unaided were viewed favourably. One respondent praised Addleshaw Goddard, saying they could leave the firm to the job, and they would "get it done", adding "it's amazing how many law firms don't understand how important that is".
For other clients, it took considerably less to impress them, as one in-house lawyer revealed "we continue to instruct Womble Bond Dickinson simply because we haven't yet exhausted our ‘over-ground under-ground’ jokes".
Hi. Please rate your firm in the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2018 Survey. Thank you.
If you're an in-house lawyer, the survey is here. |
Comments
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If you want fixed fees then ask for an an ascertainable service. If you were clients in the building trade it would be like asking a builder to build you a house for a fixed price on the basis that you havent got a plot of land yet, you dont know how big you want the house, or what it is to be made from or when you want it complete by - but you want a fixed price.
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Frankly private practice law firms are one of the last industries that gets away with taking the piss out of their clients. Clients paying for the junior lawyers on the team to be trained. Paying for travelling time while another client gets billed for the work done in the same time on a train. Firms reward their lawyers in line with recorded time which leads to a culture of time dumping. Until these things change no-one will be happy.
If I give woolly instructions to a private practice lawyer, then I would welcome some time spent together to scope out the instructions in a way that leads to a fixed price quote at the end.
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Ps - re the tossers in-house etc.. good luck with that career in a service industry...
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I have to say, if (big if perhaps) there is proper trust on both sides, I can't see the difference between me saying "X/hr, I will do it as cheaply as I can, here is an indication of likely cost", and "fixed price Y, with freedom to come back if you ask for significant and unforeseeable extra work". After all, the builder has worked out fixed price Y by applying an hourly rate and an estimate of how long it takes - and probably then adding a bit extra on to give some wiggle room.