Ethical Considerations for the Future of the Billable Hour

Chances are, if you were you fifteen years ago and among the so-called private legal practitioners, you would self-identify as one of two types. Either you would call yourself “fortunate” enough to have your days occupied predominantly by the legal side of the profession—the reading, the research, the briefs, the discovery, the document review, and the general senior lawyer support—or you would say that, notwithstanding an early career stride status, you balance much of the foregoing list along with the financial considerations of the profession. In addition to the matters for which professors endeavored to prepare you, your grey matter also keeps daily track of client expectations regarding rates, case/matter expenditures, and whether a competitor down the block (or across the ether) is lurking about, claiming ability to offer the same service as you for less.