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Top Cravath Partner: Kill Billable Hour
Evan Chesler isn't the first prominent lawyer to make the suggestion. But his call, in a January magazine article, to kill the billable hour used by most corporate law firms as a basis for charging clients is bound to be influential, due to his position at the helm of one of the most prestigious New York-based law firms.
Neither clients nor lawyers like the billable hours system. It robs clients of control and gives attorneys the wrong incentives, rewarding them for long-running litigation rather than speedy success, writes Chesler, a Cravath Swaine & Moore presiding partner, in a Forbes op-ed piece.
The solution, Chesler says, is for lawyers to be more like Joe the plumber,… Continue reading...
