Digital White Papers

December 2013: Business and Financial Management

publication of the International Legal Technology Association

Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/231030

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A PRICING PARTY: BALLOONS, WIZARDS AND CRYSTAL BALLS Answering such questions involves more in-depth analysis of several similar matters to determine the appropriate effect and how to allocate that effect across various tasks, phases or the whole case. Finally, and perhaps most challenging, are subjective cost drivers, such as complexity of the matter and reasonableness of opposing counsel. It can be extremely challenging to determine the effect that subjective factors have on the overall projected hours of a matter. Moreover, even if the effects can be measured through careful analysis of historical data, obtaining consistent data is also challenging as one attorney's highly complex rating of a case might strike another attorney as only routine or moderately complex. Limits of the Backward-Looking Crystal Ball: While historical financial and knowledge management data provide the foundation for developing estimated effort by timekeeper for various tasks, a firm should not be beholden to the past. Instead, one can use the historical data to inform whether process improvements can be made to various tasks. This is where attorney engagement in the development process is critical. It isn't particularly challenging, although perhaps it might be time-consuming, to identify the time entries that relate to a Markman hearing. What is more difficult is determining substantively what it was about a particular case's Markman hearing that made it more or less costly. Was it the first time the senior associate had managed the claims construction briefing process? Had the plaintiff included an unreasonably large number of tangential claims? Did the judge require more education in the underlying science than normal? You can't get that information from time entries or documents — you have to sit down with the case teams and have a robust discussion about what drove the cost and what was unusual about that particular case. Questions such as these need to be asked of the case teams and then tested across multiple matters before such criteria can be embedded in a wizard. Simple pricing wizards have been in use for years among personal injury attorneys. Their expansion to new types of firms and litigation is a natural consequence of the increased availability of, and our technology-enhanced ability to manipulate, historical data in law firms and client demands for greater value and pricing transparency. Chris Ende, Director of Pricing & Project Management at Goodwin Procter LLP, oversees the development and implementation of the firm's pricing and legal project management strategies, which aim to deliver increased value to clients through innovative fee arrangements, process improvement and active matter management. Chris leads a dedicated team that provides counsel and support to the firm's attorneys on budgets and alternative fee arrangements. He also provides training to attorneys on effective legal project management and client communications related to pricing and matter management. Contact him at cende@goodwinprocter.com. David Hobbie, Litigation Knowledge Manager at Goodwin Procter LLP, connects lawyers to work product through search and to each other through collaborative technology. His mission is to enhance litigator effectiveness and efficiency through improved search, knowledge-sharing and collaboration. David has a strong understanding For example, in developing an intellectual property litigation pricing wizard, one will likely want to look at the costs of Markman briefing and hearing. of knowledge management theory and social collaborative technology, as well as years of experience as a practicing litigator. Contact him at dhobbie@goodwinprocter.com.

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