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$1,000 Per Hour Isn't Rare Anymore

BY Karen Sloan
January 31, 2014

As recently as five years ago, law partners charging $1,000 an hour were outliers. Today, four-figure hourly rates for in-demand partners at the most prestigious firms don't raise eyebrows ' and a few top earners are closing in on $2,000 an hour.

These rate increases come despite hand-wringing over price pressures from clients amid a tough economy. But ever-rising standard billing rates also obscure the growing practice of discounts, falling collection rates, and slow march toward alternative fee arrangements.

Nearly 20% of the firms included in Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms' ALM sibling The National Law Journal's annual survey of large law firm billing rates last year had at least one partner charging more than $1,000 an hour. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Theodore Olson had the highest rate recorded in our survey, billing $1,800 per hour while representing mobile satellite service provider LightSquared Inc. in Chapter 11 proceedings.

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