Law 360 Quotes Huse on Billing Practices
Law360's Jeff Sistrunk recently published "5 Billing Practices That Clients Hate" where he quoted Huse on a myriad of issues related to traditional law firm billing practices. See synopsis below.
5 Billing Practices That Clients Hate By Jeff Sistrunk
Law360, Los Angeles (March 1, 2016, 2:27 PM ET) Nothing can get a client's blood boiling quicker than opening a bill to find unexpected or excessive charges for attorneys' services on transaction or litigation matters. Here, experts delve into billing practices that are sure to draw clients' ire and how to avoid them.
Sending the 'Surprise Bill' Above all, clients want predictability in their legal bills, and they will be thrown for a loop if they suddenly receive a bill that far exceeds what an outside law firm has typically been charging, according to experts.
Jill Huse, cofounder of consulting firm Society 54 LLC, said that transparency is paramount to ensure that a firm and its client are on the same page.
"It's about being transparent and communicating when things are going outside the scope of the project, to allow the client to make the determination as to whether to go down that road," Huse said.
Not Allocating Work Efficiently
Clients will get miffed if they review a bill and see that highpriced partners are tackling tasks that could just as easily be completed by associates or paralegals, or if they notice that a firm is doing unnecessary extra research on a matter, experts say.
Sending Untimely Bills
Firms must take care to track their work on a matter as they go along and timely submit bills to clients, according to experts.
Sending timely bills helps both firms' and clients' bottom lines, experts say.
If a client doesn't receive a bill on time, the money that was budgeted to pay the bill will go somewhere else, Huse noted.
"In the end, that may result in fees being cut, and the law firm's realization being killed," Huse said. "If firms get bills in in a timely manner, they will realize a higher profit margin."
Holding Back on Details
Some clients insist on having every billed hour broken down and explained, while others will accept more general details on a law firm's work. Knowing how much detail a client expects in bills is key, according to experts.
On the whole, Huse said, firms are not providing enough detail on bills, which can cause headaches for clients' inhouse counsel.
"Inhouse counsel gets really upset when they go to comb over those bills," Huse said. "If a firm hasn't provided detail, it's hard to determine whether all the hours they spent on a matter were justified."
Gouging on Conference Calls
Clients hate when they hold a conference call to review the status of a matter and several highpriced attorneys from an outside firm bill for the time, experts say.
"Another thing clients get annoyed by is being charged for multiple people attending a call; four or five lawyers who are all charging $300 per hour," Huse said. "Those are learning opportunities for the team, not an opportunity to charge the client more."
In a similar vein, clients like to be acquainted with the attorneys working on a matter, so they're not left scratching their heads over unfamiliar names that appear on a bill, according to experts.