All,
I try to do the same speech for a year or so (I speak probably 20 times a year, and having one “in the can” is good). This year’s topic is money. I have a lot of things I know happen and will talk about, including:
- commingling lawyer and client funds;
- reasonable fees;
- taking an interest in an application in lieu of a fee;
- general issues about contingent fees in litigation;
- in contingent fees, efforts to narrow the ability of the client to fire the lawyer without paying full fee, and also efforts to expand the ability of the lawyer to withdraw but still be paid a fee.
What I am hoping is you can tell me issues “your friends” have encountered about fees and clients, or examples of those listed above, or… Fire away. Thank you for those who are emailing me privately about this, too!
Thanks in advance.
Prof. I don’t know if you’ve seen my post on fee-shifting-insurance. Potential ethical issues there as well: link to patentlyo.com
Related to the generation of fees – the “management” within a firm of rewarding high billable hour rates and the effects of that induced culture on the “sense” of reasonableness.
Junior associates/partners not involved in determining reasonableness have been weaned on a reward system of maximum hours. To ignore this culture during its development and only later to expect a later promoted junior-to-senior partner to not only be aware of this formative influence, but to then act opposite of that developed culture seems completely unrealistic.
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