Gone is the eighties notion of unlimited billable hours and the fancy corporate wining and dining that used to be the norm at private elite law firms. The nineties have been about a trend towards economic improvement in business management. Many search for ways in which they can increase productivity and profits yet decrease expenses and remain competitive. Included are not only tactics from within, such as downsizing, but pressuring outside agencies to do the same to meet the cost objectives. And because they have always been a huge financial drain on their revenues, the primary costs have been legal ones.1
The pressure is on. But who is it on? Most likely the law firm associate. Even more likely, a junior associate. While scrambling to streamline their businesses, attract clients, and maintain them by delivering the quality work demanded of them, those senior law firm partners have their associates fulfill mundane, tedious assignments that take hours upon hours to complete and which can cost clients upwards of $150 per hour. All which a paralegal or secretary could have, no should have, done for approximately one third of the costs.
Another common problem is that upper level associates and partners fail to inform junior associates of all the facts of the case and/or exactly what it is that they need. After an initial summarization of the matter, the junior associate is asked to research an issue related to it. After hours of doing so, the junior associate comes back to the partner with a tentative answer, only to hear the partner exclaim something like "Oh, I meant New Jersey law," or "Yes, but what we really need is . . .." Which ends up as wasted hours that the client may be charged for.
This is certainly not true of all private law firms. In a backwards effort to cut costs for their clients, law firms have found a major loophole, one that enables them to make the maximum amount of money they can but expending as little resources as possible. Inevitably, they provide a disservice to both their clients and associates. Pretty clever. And pretty unforgivable.
Businesses need to wisen up. Check your bills. If anything looks even remotely strange, question it. Its your prerogative. Summaries of work done are often inflated and reworded in legalese to make it appear like legal. Be extremely wary of words like "editing," "drafting," "reviewing," and "corresponding." Scrutinize it. Many times editing consists of making small changes on a memo, letter or draft on the computer which could have been done by a secretary. Drafting could easily mean rereading a memo and changing a sentence or two. Reviewing often refers to looking through a pile of documents, which a paralegal could easily have done (particularly when the junior associate is asked to look through documents on a case he or she has never even seen before, dragging the time out even longer and, hence, making the bill even larger). And correspondence many a times means making phone calls (and waiting on hold), writing a letter and/or sending or waiting for faxes.
Again, this is certainly not true of all private law firms. But it never hurts to be cautious and informed. Its your bill, and its your right to question it. So let's be careful out there.
