Attorneys and consultants involved in the FTX bankruptcy have asked the District of Delaware bankruptcy court to approve billed hours and expenses totaling just under $37 million for the first six weeks of Chapter 11 proceedings.
Rate increases across the legal industry haven't been as big as the conventional wisdom implies, and clients have more room to negotiate than they probably realize.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller partial attorney fees totaling more than $886,564, in his long-running fight against the 1980 horror film's production outfit Manny Co. over proceeds from the film.
Law firm billing rates have increased across all law positions in 2022, but not necessarily enough to keep pace with inflation. That's according to news reports that point to some more challenges for law firm profits.
The 'best choice' provider pitch may not be the optimal sales strategy. It's better to adjust to where the prospect is in their buying decision process — whether that means they are looking for providers, they are studying the situation, they already have counsel, or they have decided not to address the issue.
Midlevel associates aren't less willing than their predecessors to do the brain-bending amount of work. It's that after two years of billing massive hours through an isolating global pandemic, they're completely disloyal to the status quo. They kept firms going, they made partners rich, and now they plan to reshape the profession in their image.
Firms have been especially deliberate during the pandemic to increase the number of touch points they have with existing business, deepening ties with their roster of current clients by referring matters across practices and rewarding partners for that kind of origination. But with marketing spend surging and clients increasingly willing to move work around, Big Law firms' incumbent advantage could begin to wane.
The current economic climate will incline lawyers, specifically litigators, to rethink their fee structures. With inflation at a 40-year high, residential and commercial rents rising, and a predicted looming recession, clients are tightening their budgets, but also demanding the same level of service and results from their attorneys.
Uncertainty at most firms has led some Big Law counsel to become unhappy or disgruntled. They may be working the same long hours as their firms' associates, but, in some cases, they're now making less than lawyers with less experience. As a result, many counsel have been reaching out to recruiters.
After years of clients working to trim their roster of firms to a trusted group that understands the specific challenges of their businesses, rate hikes are threatening to upset these delicate relationships.
