The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

Seen quotes like this lately? The lawyers of America have laid their heads together and drawn up a lot of proposed reforms--for other people. The unpleasant truth is that the American public feel that no class needs reforming more than lawyers, particularly many of the shining lights of the profession. The man in the street is disgusted with both the lawyers and the courts. Looks familiar, no? It comes from the September 15 issue of Forbes -- in 1923 , that is. I guess complaining about lawyers is timeless. Some of the biggest complaints come from major corporations, who pay huge bills to BigLaw to support seven-figure partner draws and $165k starting salaries. And yes, they pay to train the young-uns as a rule. The Association of Corporate Counsel claims it has a solution (via Portfolio ) that it will roll out next month, which appears to have much to do with sharing billable rates at law firms used as outside counsel. And other smart people (in this case, Larry Bodine ) are rep...

This story talks about rising rates at big law firms. With associate salaries (and partner profits) climbing based on a perceived supply and demand issue, do you blame them, or do you blame the clients for paying the rates? According to the story, "'There's always been frustration. Now there's anger,' said Susan Hackett, general counsel for the Association of Corporate Counsel. " But to some degree I think you also have blame the clients. There is no supply and demand issue when it comes to the number of lawyers and law firms in the market. But you do have a limited number of so-called "elite" firms. GCs have to decide whether it is always necessary to send all the work to the big firms, with the concomitant cost, or whether firms that charge less will suffice. (Heck, I am not cheap either, but I am compared to BigLaw.) I see both sides of the coin. Face it, if something goes wrong the GC looks better if s/he can say "I hired the best guy...

It is here: the age of the $1,000 per hour lawyer . "'Frankly, it's a little hard to think about anyone who doesn't save lives being worth this much money,' says David Boies, one of the nation's best-known trial lawyers, at the Armonk, N.Y., office of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP." As the spouse of a doctor, I tend to agree. But let's look at this from another perspective. Many of the people charging these types of rates are the lawyers you will bring in for so-called "bet the company" work. So these lawyers are not saving lives, but they may be saving companies and helping the lives of all those who are gainfully employed there. (Okay, so I am playing devil's advocate here.) As for me? No thanks. I like making money as much as the next guy, but the pressure that comes with it is not my cup of tea, at least not at this stage of my career. And even if I did I'm not sure I'd ever get to the $16.67/minute rate anyway. R...