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The Lawyers Are Finally Catching On?

Now here is an interesting agenda item from the conference noted:

1. Ethical and professionalism issues regarding the ever increasing the number of billable hours, including (a) the conflict of interest inherent in hourly billing; (b) the incentive for abuse caused by minimums and hours-based bonuses; (c) finding time for public obligations, such as pro bono and bar association activity; and (d) the importance of work/life balance.

ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM
Sponsored by
The Committee on Attorney Professionalism THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008
New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway, New York City
9:00 a.m.-12:35 p.m.

That was just one agenda item of several in a three-hour meeting!!

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Posted by Alan Weiss on January 4th, 2008 filed in Alas Babylon |

3 Responses to “The Lawyers Are Finally Catching On?”

  1. Cary King Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    In the past 2 years we’ve offered three types of contracting to our clients: fixed-price with a guarantee; combo,T&M for analysis and fixed-price implementation; and, T&M.

    Not once has any company taken us up on the either the fixed-price or combo offer.

    We work with the biggest companies in the world - auto manufacturers, worldwide insurance, banks, utilities.

    We do IT service and asset management consulting. The work we do helps them cut costs and can’t be considered to give a competitive advantage otherwise. Therefore, it is to the company’s advantage to adopt (to the extent possible) the industry standards for the processes we implement.

    Each time we get refused, I ask why they don’t want something other than a T&M contract. Each time, the answer is the same - that’s their policy.

    It will be a while, I think, before the purchasing and contract people in companies adjust to a new “paradigm.” (sorry, couldn’t resist…)

  2. Ilya Bogorad Says:
    January 8th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    My observation is that lots of buyers have trouble with arithmetics. In fact, multiplication seems to be especially hard to master.

    I recently finished a subcontracted gig, which, unfortunately, necessitated a per diem quote on my side.

    The only thing the buyer ever paid attention to is the per diem rate, not the overall cost of the project. As a result of such (wide-spread) behavior, there is an incentive for a proponent to quote a lower rate and get the business but then take all the time in the world to finish(or not) the job.

  3. Philip Lye Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    I eventually was fed up with charging an hourly rate and now only offer services on a fixed price whether its for a simple solution or a major project.

    Initially I received a lot of objections but stuck to my guns and now all my exisiting clients are comfortable with it and those that don’t moved on.

    New clients have a choice fixed price or fixed price and if they are not happy I politely suggest there may be other providers that meet their needs.

    Lead by example and don’t fear breaking free!

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