Legal Commentary

Out-of-the-box marketing: Listing fixed fees for writing appellate briefs

By A.J. Levy

We?ve all heard about setting fixed fees for certain kinds of litigation. But this is the first time that I?ve seen a site in which an appellate firm lists a schedule of its fees for certain kinds of work.

For instance, the firm, The Bartlett Law Firm, APLC,  lists its fee for writing a principal brief on appeal at $7,750 and for writing both principal and reply briefs at $11,900.  The firm lists additional fixed fees for other services. However, the site adds that the firm “will consider blending a lower flat fee with a contingent-portion of the award in certain cases.”

Thanks to Ernie Svenson for posting about the site.

In line with this, there is a January 29 article in the New York Times: “Billable Hours Giving Ground at Law Firms,” which discusses how some firms are using, for instance, value billing in litigation. In one situation, the firm set a fee, but that fee was to be and indeed was increased based on how much the firm saved its client over the amount the client feared losing if it lost.

Full post as published by Out of the Box Lawyering on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).