Flat Fees for Fun and Profit
Lee Rosen – Divorce Discourse Joshua Lenon – Clio
Agenda
• Flat Fees with Lee Rosen (40 minutes) – Covering the rules, ethics, and customer
perception behind flat fees
• Riverview Law Case Study (10 minutes) – How one firm has excelled with flat fees
• Questions (10 minutes)
Instructors
Joshua Lenon • Lawyer, admitted in
New York • Lawyer-in-Residence
for Clio
Lee Rosen • Founder of Rosen Law
Firm • Triathlete • Blogger at Divorce
Discourse
Flat fees
f o r f u n a n d p r o f i t
Lee rosen presents :
lee rosen
Using flat fees billing in family law for over a decade.
Inspired by being charged an hourly rate by an IT professional
Being charged while sharing travel tips
That same week, I paid a fixed fee to a plumber for a quick repair.
Between a chatty, hourly-billing IT consultant & the fixed fee plumber,
which do you think I hired again?
w h y s w i t c h t o f l a t f e e s ?
upside for lawyers f l a t f e e s
u p s i d e f o r l a w y e r s
• L A W Y E R S C A N F O C U S O N P R E M I U M W O R K
• DRIVES AWAY UNPROFITABLE BUSINESS
• CLIENTS FULLY INFORM LAWYERS WHEN NOT WORRIED ABOUT BILLING
• E L I M I N A T E S C O L L E C T I O N S
• ELIMINATES RECEIVABLES
upside for clients f l a t f e e s
u p s i d e f o r C l i e n t s
• R E D U C E D A N X I E T Y
• ABILITY TO MAKE INFORMED COST/BENEFIT DECISIONS
• B E T T E R R E P R E S E N T A T I O N W H E N T H E Y T R U S T T H E I R L A W Y E R
the client reactions
T h e c l i e n t r e a c t i o n s
• C L I E N T S L O V E I T
• LESS STRESS WHEN CALL THEIR COUNSEL
• L E S S W O R R Y A B O U T C O S T S
is there a downside?
D o w n s i d e s
• FIRMS TAKE ON MORE RISK
• U P F R O N T C O S T S C A N D E T E R S O M E C L I E N T S
• REQUIRES REVIEW AND TWEAKING TO GET PRICE RIGHT
• M A Y I M P A C T A V A I L A B L E L I N E S O F C R E D I T
• REFUNDS REQUIRE SETTING ASIDE FUNDS IN ADVANCE
u p s i d e s
• YOU GET PAID
• O N L Y W O R K I N G W H E N Y O U G E T P A I D
• YOU AVOID LENDING YOUR TIME AND HOPING ITS REPAID IN FEES
T h e S t a t e B a r
S t a t e b a r s
• KNOW THE RULES FOR FLAT FEES AND REFUNDS
• R E S E A R C H E T H I C S O P I N I O N S
• CONSULT ETHICS HOTLINES
• B E B O L D W I T H I N T H A T I N F O R M A T I O N
S e t t i n g y o u r f l a t f e e s
• START FROM HISTORIC DATA
• C O M P A R E A P P L E S T O A P P L E S
• FIND MINIMUM AND AVERAGE COSTS PER TYPES OF MATTERS
• A D D A P R E M I U M T O T H O S E A V E R A G E C O S T S
m a k i n g t h e t r a n s i t i o n
Explaining flat fees a c l i e n t s p e r s p e c t i v e
E x p l a i n i n g f l a t f e e s
• TAKES SALESMANSHIP
• E X P L A I N H O W I T W O R K S
• EXPLAIN HOW IT REDUCES UNCERTAINTY
• E X P L A I N W H Y Y O U D O I T
• PUT IT IN WRITING
lessons learned
E x p l a i n i n g f l a t f e e s
• SET FEES AFTER CONSULT, ACCOUNTING FOR VARIABLES
• STAGE THE FEES – BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END
• KEEP RECORDING TIME
• ACCEPT THAT SOME REFUNDS WILL HAPPEN
• KEEP RECALCULATING FLAT FEES AS YOU GET MORE DATA
c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e
d i v o r c e d i s c o u r s e . c o m / f e e s
Thank you
d i v o r c e d i s c o u r s e . c o m
L e e r o s e n
r o s e n @ r o s e n . c o m
RIVERVIEW LAW CASE STUDY
Success
• 20-30% Cheaper than Traditional Law Firms • Unbundled Services with Fixed Costs • Frequent Reporting • Only 45% of Staff are Lawyers • Doubling of Employees since 2012
Customer Base
16#Months#to#09/30/2013#
Year#to#09/30/2013#
An4cipated#09/30/2014#
Small%&%medium%sized%business%
39%% 12%% 8%%
Li6ga6on%&%representa6on%
55%% 64%% 31%%
Large%corpora6ons%
6%% 24%% 61%%
Financial Rewards
• Double-digit growth rates • Two year’s old and breaking even in 2015 • £1,944,761 in 2014 ($3,300,280)
Stats and the Flat Fee Whitepaper
hAp://gocl.io/flaFee%
Q U E S T I O N S
Top Related