Tom Collins, on morepartnerincome, posted a useful "Checklist for Increasing Law Firm Productivity" on September 11. The list opens with Collins's advice to "employ professional administrative staff to reduce opportunity costs (lost billable hours) of partners involved in management." His September 12 post, "Why Some Law Firm Plans Never Go Anywhere," is also worth more than a cursory glance.
The news in the market is that law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is working with Goldman Sachs and Countrywide Financial to help the home-mortgage lender put together a multibillion-dollar bail-out plan similar to Bank of America's recent $2 billion deal. For further details, read the September 11 post by David Gaffen in the Wall Street Journal's "MarketBeat."
Larry Bodine's September 12 post, "$1000/Hour Legal Fees in NY are a Marketing Opportunity for Everyone Else," at his Law Marketing Blog reports that lawyers have finally begun charging $1,000 per hour, and as expected, it started in Manhattan. Top lawyers from Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett as well as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft are apparently being paid at the same rate as Stephen Susman and Benjamin Civiletti, who started billing at $1,000 per hour last year.
So there's some justification for all of you who've been thinking of raising your fees.
That's all for this week, friends. Take care.
