A young lawyer named Eve called me today about a fee dispute. She had quoted an hourly rate without providing an estimate and had issued… Read More »Sometimes, I Just Don’t Care About The Client’s Damn Budget
I was speaking to a recent retiree from a Canadian Big Law firm the other day, and she introduced a new law firm concept to… Read More »Changing Law Firms for the Worse (Yet Again)
Back in the good old days, I used to bill by the hour, just like every other lawyer. I had a simple retainer agreement with… Read More »My Journey To the Land of Setting Expectations
I once proposed raising our hourly rates and was met with furious resistance by the head of our litigation department who assured me that no… Read More »Stupid, Stupid, Stupid
“Fools believe silence is a void needing to be filled; the wise understand there’s no such thing as silence.” Michael J. Sullivan, Age of Myth Client:… Read More »Silent Stupidity
Some years ago I went off on a cruise and took the opportunity to have some renovations done at my house while I was away.… Read More »Paperwork, Practitioners and Panties
When I practised law in Mississauga, Ont., our fees were cheap compared to the Toronto firms, and kind of expensive compared to firms in places… Read More »Let’s play Jeopardy: I’ll take ‘Expert in Ottawa’ for $300
Since lawyers tend to think that they know a great deal more than they do about just about everything, they often choose to do things… Read More »Lawyers Know Everything
Near the end of my career, at a time when I frequently congratulated myself (since no one else would listen) about how brilliant I was… Read More »Breaking The Rules
Many of you will be familiar with the old saying (sometimes attributed to John Adams and other times to Winston Churchill) to the effect that… Read More »Racing to the Bottom of the Legal Profession