Lawyers’ $2,000 Hourly Rates Crimp Big Law’s Appetite for Risk

Welcome back to the Big Law Business column. I’m Roy Strom, and today we look at why large firms are reluctant to take on contingency fee cases. Sign up to receive this column in your Inbox on Thursday mornings.

Big Law litigators have a great business model. They bill by the hour, and they collect fees whether their clients win or lose.

A possible downside is that their returns are capped by the number of hours they can work.

To boost their returns, and to keep pace with the surging profitability of major corporate practices, a handful of large ...