The Paradigm of Billing Time: How Lawyers Are Not Like Investors

An expert on contingency fees argues that class-action lawyers should be compensated like investors considering the risks they undertake, but that they are too often restrained by the profession’s billable hour allegiance.

Limiting Factor: “When other entrepreneurs and investors succeed in their ventures, no one asks them: How many hours did you spend on this venture? What effective hourly rate did you earn?” Vanderbilt’s Brian Fitzpatrick writes.

Breaking the Mold: Lawyers would benefit from educating clients about how value-based models operate, and when they are more appropriate than the billable hour model. But it will take a long time and ...