Legal Times: How prevalent is the firm's use of alternative fees?
Graeme Bush: Based on talking to my colleagues at other bigger firms, we may do a little less of that than some of the other firms that have institutional client relationships where their client is maybe giving different types of business — some litigation, some corporate, some regulatory. There are package deals to handle a whole variety of things. We don't tend to do that. A contingency fee is to some extent an alternative fee arrangement, and we do a fair amount of that — including with some business clients, not just with individuals. We have also done what I call collar arrangements, which is a flat fee with a collar. We will take X amount and then if it goes a certain amount above the collar in terms of time, we will get the amount above that, although sometimes at a reduced rate. If it is below that, as long as it's within a certain range, we will keep the difference. If it is way below it, then we will adjust the fee. That is one thing we do on a fairly regular basis with certain clients. Honestly, I think a lot of what passes for alternative fees these days is simply a discount on your hourly rate.
