Fixed-Fee, Up-Front Pricing
According to a recent study, legal costs paid by U.S. companies jumped 75% from 1998 to 2008 – compared to an increase of 20% for overall business costs.  Why did legal fees increase so quickly?  Most law firms raised their hourly billable rates 6-8% every year.  Combined with the inefficiencies of hourly billing, legal costs exploded.

We believe in providing value to our clients – not finding ways to bill more hours.  In most situations, a fixed-fee pricing arrangement provides better value for both clients and their law firm.  The client is assured that there will be no surprises while the law firm is rewarded for its experience and efficiency. 

We are able to offer attractive fixed fee rates due to our low overhead.  Unlike most firms, we don’t occupy expensive downtown office space.  We don’t use client work to train younger lawyers.  We have no librarian, no marketing director, no mail delivery personnel and no human resources director.  In short, we have none of the cost structure of a typical mid-size or large law firm and we pass those savings on to our clients.

We also utilize the latest technology and maintain electronic client files to improve efficiency.  Finally, by relying on the experience and business judgment of our partners – and not using client work to train young, inexperienced lawyers – we provide timely, efficient and practical solutions.

How it Works
Here’s how our fixed-fee, value based pricing model works:  We meet with you in person or over the phone to learn about your business and the scope of the project.  Once we understand the project, we will provide you with a written scope of work that contains our proposed fixed fee.  We will work with you to narrow the scope of work if cost is a driving factor for you.  Once you agree to the proposal, we begin work and bill you as described in the proposal.  We believe you will find that our fixed fee quotes are significantly less than the “budgets” provided by other law firms for the same type of work.  Of course, law firms are notorious for exceeding legal budgets.  But our fixed fee is not a budget or an estimate – it is the total amount you will pay for the scope of work described.     

In some transactions (for example, business acquisitions), we may request a contingent fee as part of our fixed fee arrangement.  Again, we believe this aligns your interests with ours.

We also offer general counsel services for a regular, fixed monthly fee.