Billable Hour Cliff Notes

Adam Smith brings the collective wisdom of the blogosphere on my favorite target, The Seemingly Indestructible Billable Hour.  His results of "Savvy Blawgers" Query #2 is the best discussion I have found concerning the billable hour … a must read for those interested in the subject, or for those who want to know what all the gripe is about. 

Some of the best insights:

• The billable hour is a terrible thing. Everyone in large law firms is better off by scuttling it, with the exception of the dishonest and inefficient, who will fare poorly. The savings garnered by the client can be split with the honest and efficient lawyers. Prof. William Henderson.
• The 1960s marked the coming of age of the billable hour –  "Today, unintended consequences of the billable hours model have permeated the profession.  […]" Former President of the ABA Robert Hirshon.
• I expect alternative billing to remain in the realm of experiment, primarily used by innovative lawyers who will be criticized by some of their peers and praised by their clients. Dennis Kennedy.
• "For about the last seven years, I have been preaching that the billable hour will be dead in five years. What’s a little hyperbole among friends? Monica Bay (joking of course)
• But the system we have now is so complicated that it’s too hard for all the important king-makers to figure out a new system that they could all make as much, or more, money in that’s also simple. The solution, in the case of lawyers and alternative billing, is that the system has to purge a few king-makers and make the remaining ones scared enough to believe that failure to innovate might be detrimental to their financial health." Ernie the Attorney.

My own belief is that the current iteration of the billable hour will be around for a long time, although it will be re-packaged by big firms to seem more client friendly.  However, innovative lawyers will see the low hanging fruit and offer clients a market alternative. Alternative billers must become dominant market players in order to drive the current crop of hourly billers out of business. Capitalism will favor those who deliver value and return on investment for each legal dollars paid.