Fixed pricing for legal services

1Stanislav Roth

Hourly rates

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* Source: ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2010

Fixed fees

* Source: ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2010

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Pricing for legal services todayHourly rate still dominates

Growing (but not sustained) pressure on law firms to offer

alternatives

No major law firms have seriously committed to

alternative pricing or changing their business model/mentality

Emergence of strong alternative models:

Fixed fee/retainer for any work

Placing senior lawyers at clients (in-sourcing)

Low cost/fixed price legal process outsourcing (LPO)

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5 Golden rules for fixed pricing1.Start with placing yourself in client’s place – what would I

be happy to pay for the service?

2.Consider other factors – size of client, value of project,

urgency, competition, opportunity for repeat business, time the

work may take

3.Come up with the price based on 1 and 2

4.Consider whether the price in point 3 works for you (cost,

profit)

5.Run your price by a trusted colleague and/or consult your

instinct. 5