May 23, 2008
- Lawyers Suffer from Poor Emotional Health
Many lawyers are unhappy, and one of the chief causes of unhappiness is billable hours. A common refrain among lawyers in private practice is their expressed dislike for billing hours. I know one lawyer who splits his legal practice between contingency fee matters and billable hour matters. He has told me that he is generally happier when he is working on cases that do not involve billable hours. Billable hours have had a strikingly negative effect on a major segment of the legal profession.
November 20, 2007
- Contingency Fees v. Billable Hours, Part II
Many lawyers are unhappy, and one of the chief causes of unhappiness is billable hours. A common refrain among lawyers in private practice is their expressed dislike for billing hours. I know one lawyer who splits his legal practice between contingency fee matters and billable hour matters. He has told me that he is generally happier when he is working on cases that do not involve billable hours. The key is for lawyers to seek methods of alternative billing, and to take the element of time out of how they charge for legal services. (…)
November 15, 2007
- Contingency Fees V. Billable Hours
While a colleague of mine was on vacation on a cruise, he met two lawyers: a patent lawyer who bills by the hour; and a lawyer who bills for his services on a contingency fee basis. It was striking to my colleage to notice the difference in attitude and lifestyle between the two lawyers. The lawyer who billed by the hour was constantly working and exhibited stress during his vacation; he also seemed incapable of truly escaping his work. The contingency fee lawyer, on the other hand, seemed dramatically more relaxed and didn't do any work during the cruise. The projected attituded of the contingency fee lawyer was that his work would wait for him, and that he could pick up where he had left off after returning from the cruise. Are billable hours less conducive to a healthy lifestyle? (…)
