Legal fees are always an issue for clients, whether they are emerging growth companies or multi-national corporations, they all must carefully husband their limited resources and frugally manage their legal budget.
While our fees are primarily based on the amount of time that we spend on a particular matter, we also factor in our best judgment as to the value of our services.
Our hourly billing rates depend on whether the matter is transactional, securities or litigation, and are always disclosed clearly to the client upfront.
While hourly rates are important (and ours are extremely competitive) compared with those of larger firms who do the same kind of sophisticated corporate and securities work), the total fees for a legal task or a series of related legal tasks is more important, since with our levels of experience (49 years, 35 years and 24 years) we normally spend less time to complete legal tasks as we have likely handled similar matters previously and do not have to climb the learning curve. We also do not rely on the big firms' "leverage," i.e., the delivery of legal services by a senior partner, junior partner, senior associate, junior associate and paralegal – which can lead to significantly larger total fees.
Most importantly, our custom is to provide a detailed written fee estimate which we provide when we understand the general nature of the legal work assigned to us. We attach this fee estimate to our engagement letter, and it details each legal task with a probable range of hours and the fees based on the hourly rates. This way our clients know the likely cost before we start work.
We have learned over many years that clients value excellent legal services at reasonable rates. That's the guarantee we make to our clients every day.