The collective weight of the season is upon law firm managing partners this month, with the season of course being that of collections, partner compensation and rate-setting. And the latter has proven a bit vexing for firm leaders this year as they grapple with setting rates in an era where firms span multiple markets and practice concentrations, clients aren’t willing to pay the published rates and alternative fee deals are a growing part of firm revenue.
As a result, firms are moving away from a uniformly applied rate structure across the firm to a specialized approach that may result in stark differences in rates charged across offices, practices and attorney level.
