Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Practical Responses to Client Demands for a Fee Cut
In a previous article in November 2009, we discussed some key questions about law firm billing: What is a reasonable fee? Can an hourly rate be justified, and who determines its value? Does a fee reflect cost of operation, and how can a lawyer demonstrate that fact? These are all important issues, but they presuppose a reasonable and unemotional discussion about fees. The recession, however, has created an unreasonable problem: A law firm's largest client suddenly demands a 10% rate cut. Without it, the client will stop sending new work to the law firm.
Firms respond in different ways to this dilemma. Some feel that there is no alternative but to agree because the recession has turned nearly all legal services into commodities. Others feel that the firm can push back by asserting the uniqueness of its practice and services, but this is a difficult point to prove ' most clients view all lawyers as equally qualified, and conversely (no matter what their own rhetoric) all lawyers can't be the best at their practices. Then there is the desperation strategy: Agree to the 10% rate cut, then pad the bill here and there to make up for it.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.