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Legal Services (Not Just
Value-Based
at Standard Rates) by Mike Burks and
Estimating Hours
David A. Rueff, Jr. of Baker Donelson
Mike Burks is the Pricing Manager in the finance department of Baker Donelson. He is a certified accountant with over 11 years of experience in law firm management and administration. Mike is responsible for the evaluation and implementation of value-based billing arrangements for the firm and provides practice group financial management to improve financial performance for eight of the firm's practice groups. He can be contacted at mburks@bakerdonelson.com.
David A. Rueff, Jr. is a shareholder with Baker Donelson and is the firm's Legal Project Management Officer. He is a practicing attorney with over 20 years of experience implementing project management systems. David is responsible for the design and implementation of the firm's patent pending legal project management system, BakerManage. He can be contacted at drueff@bakerdonelson.com.
Attorneys are groomed to equate the value of legal services with the number of hours it takes to do the work. Productivity in a law firm has also been historically based upon the number of hours an attorney can bill in a year. This culture places the working attorney in a state of conflict since law firm expectations are to bill more hours and client expectations are to pay what is reasonable and customary. This can lead to uncomfortable conversations at the closure of a matter to address discounts or write- offs. Inside the firm, attorneys who
16 ILTA White Paper
