What Are You Charging in 2010?
This week, we had coffee with Blaine Kimrey, the managing partner of Lathrop & Gage’s new Chicago office.
Kimrey says his former Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal clients couldn’t be happier with his move to the Am Law 200 regional firm because his rates are now less for the same expertise.
Kimrey’s statement, along with the shrunken legal budgets many clients now face, prompts us to ask: What is your 2010 billable rate?
If you’re too shy to tell us your rate, at least share whether you’ve maintained your current rates in the down economy, boosted them, even slightly or slashed them to keep clients.
Answer in the comments below.
Read answers to last week’s question: What Are the Unwritten Rules of Law Firm Life?
Featured answer:
Posted by Hadley V. Baxendale: A practice rule, from my father, a trial lawyer: “Don’t assume that your opponent is as smart as you and will see the flaws in your case. But don’t assume he’s not as smart as you are, either.”
At a law firm: An ounce of image is worth a pound of production. In today’s world, that means that physically being in your office during working hours is worth far more to your career than good work you do from home. Don’t bother saying this isn’t fair or that times have changed: This is truth.
All clients are equal, but some are more equal than others. This will become apparent when there is a conflict, and the client with the lower revenues to the firm is thrown under the bus no matter how wrong the choice is.
