Law Firm Pricing

Toby Brown @gnawledge Toby Brown is the original pricing director, having been the first person ever appointed to this role. He regularly presents and publishes in the US on legal technology, marketing and law firm management, and maintains the ABA award winning 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. Currently, Toby is the director of strategic pricing and analytics for Akin Gump, where he works with firm partners and clients to develop pricing arrangements and service delivery models that drive successful relationships. Vincent Cordo @vcordo Vincent Cordo is a recognised leader and speaker in the fields of alternative fee arrangements, project management, business process improvement, knowledge management and service delivery. Vince serves as the global director of client value for Reed Smith. He leads the firm's strategy related to the evaluation and implementation of value pricing, alternative fee arrangements, and matter management. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt and helped form the legal industry Pricing Practice Innovation Project Management Group (P3).

• Executive summary ... V About the authors ...VII Acknowledgements ...IX Chapter 1: Why a pricing role? ... 1 Chapter 2: The roles and responsibilities of the pricing director ... 3 The fee conversation role ... 3 Case study: The fee conversation in action ... 4 The budget building role ... 5 The profit modeling role ... 7 The counseling role ... 8 The monitoring role ... 9 The approval role ... 9 The knowledge role ... 11 So many roles... 12 Lateral evaluation - Future role? ... 12 Chapter 3: Pricing and profitability ... 15 Law firm profitability ... 15 The profit drivers ... 17 Why does this all matter? ... 20 Chapter 4: The importance of a pricing strategy ... 23 Key law firm and client needs ... 24 Defining quality ... 25 Important points to remember ... 26 What to do if hourly rates are too high ... 26 Chapter 5: Developing the right pricing model based on data ... 29 Know exactly what clients want ... 29 Should firms create their own AFAs? ... 30 A pricing model based on the firm's tacit data ... 33 Chapter 6: Engagement monitoring ... 37 How to monitor ... 37 Complications/variations ... 38 Tools and approaches ... 39 Conclusion ... 39 Chapter 7: Delivering the pricing message effectively to the client and within the firm to gain buy-in ... 43 The client focus ... 43 Internal support ... 45 Keeping your message crisp and compelling ... 45 What are the benefits? ... 47 Chapter 8: Pricing technology ... 49 The impact of technology ... 49 Differences in technology and technological advances ... 50 Disruptive technology ... 51 Technology caution: Build it and they will not come ... 51 Chapter 9: Beyond finance ... 55 Value ... 55 Beyond the status quo ... 56 Knowledge management redefined ... 57 Where does legal project management fit with alternative fee arrangements? ... 57 What does the client want to see? ... 58 Chapter 10: Pricing - A very challenging role ... 61 Educate... 61 Motivate ... 62 Regulate ... 62 The three roles together... 63 The practice knowledge challenge... 63 The gravitas factor ... 64 A legal pricing community ... 65 Chapter 11: Appointing the pricing director and team ... 67 Moving forward ... 68 The main characteristics ... 69 Building the team ... 71 Measuring the time spent on monitoring the matter versus pricing support ... 74