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Alternative Billing Increasingly Important for Texas Firms, Survey Shows
Texas Lawyer
Balancing the risks and rewards of using alternative billing, such as fixed or contingent fees, is a strategy many firms are employing in today's uncertain economy, based on responses from the 74 firms that completed Texas Lawyer's 2009 Salary & Billing Survey. Other strategies include holding hourly billing rates stable and requiring higher front-end retainers from new clients. The survey shows that average billing rates and employee salaries rose less than 4 percent when compared to 2008 figures.
Second Female Managing Partner Takes Helm at Carroll, Burdick & McDonough
The Recorder
Vicki Freimann will be taking over today as managing partner of Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, making her the second woman to lead the 66-member firm. The firm's first female managing partner, Angela Bradstreet, left in 2007 to become California's labor commissioner. Bradstreet said Freimann has "that perfect combination" of business acumen, client service and people skills to lead a firm. Freimann will oversee the firm's expansion beyond California and internationally, partner Rodney Eshelman said.
In Down Economy, Do Less Profitable Firms Have a Better Shot at Big-Name Partners?
The American Lawyer
A new study suggests that partners on the move increasingly are willing to join up with less profitable firms that might offer greater job security. The study, by management consultancy KermaPartners, surveyed more than 240 lateral partner moves among Am Law 200 firms. It found that, more and more, partners are moving "downstream," leaving firms with higher profits per partner for less profitable ones.
Will the Future for Law Firms Be a Reset Button Rather Than a Panic Button?
The Legal Intelligencer
There's not a crystal ball in town that isn't predicting dramatic shifts in the legal industry. And just maybe, those changes will be for the better, as the days of follow-the-leader disappear. There is no bandwagon to jump on like there was when salary wars were being waged, and the stigma attached to making tough, unique -- and sometimes unfavorable -- decisions seems to be fading as firms use the recession as cause to hit the reset button. Change is in the air for law firms -- and it could be a good thing.
A Sign of These Times: Slow-Paying Clients
The Recorder
The word is out: Lawyers are the last to be paid these days. "Since the beginning of the year, no one wants to part with a dime," said LeClairRyan's Robin Briggs, who was one of the speakers at a recent meeting in San Francisco for a chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators. Members gathered to discuss billing and collections trends, including tips on bringing money in faster -- such as working collections language into engagement letters -- and the possible downside of fee reductions.
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