Skip Navigation

 
The Florida Bar
www.floridabar.org

How to Cut Those #$%* Legal Costs

Professionalism Resource Database


To obtain a copy of an article, contact the Center for Professionalism at cfp@flabar.org

Classification:Billable Hours
 
Date Published:09/21/1992
 
Title:How to Cut Those #$%* Legal Costs
 
Source:Fortune/Shawn Tully
 
Summary:

In corporate America's campaign to tame costs, one overstuffed item cries out for discipline: The bill for legal services.
U. S. companies' legal bills have leapt to $84 billion---$64 billion to law firms and the rest to in-house lawyers--a total equal to 35% of their spending on medical care. Fortunately, that scenario is quickly reversing.
Rising legal fees brought an explosion in the number of attorneys--a 40% rise since 1981. Now, attorneys are battling for frequently dwindling amounts of work.
Corporate customers are taking advantages of this lawyer glut, hammering down lofty hourly fees. Some have hired their own in-house legal teams, some corporations have hired auditing companies to review bills and a few have hire detective agencies.
Article recognizes several alternative billing methods. 3 pages

 

[Revised: 07-28-2006]