The Tyranny of the Billable Hour

The eLawyer Blog (Better Delivery Of Legal Services Through The Internet) noted a new article titled, "The Tyranny of the Billable Hour" By Robert Pack, published by the DC Bar. This is a very good article on the downfalls of the billable hour for clients. This is a must read for anyone interested in the topic.

Here is the link

An excerpt:

Quantity Versus Quality
One of the major problems with the billable hour system, as the ABA commission pointed out, is that it is “fundamentally about quantity over quality, repetition over creativity. With no gauge for intangibles such as productivity, creativity, knowledge or technological advancements, the billable hours model is a counter-intuitive measure of value.”

“It’s certainly much easier,” says Jakovic, “to look at what the attorney has done, whether you’re looking from the client perspective or otherwise, and say, ‘Oh, they’ve worked this many hours,’ as opposed to ‘That was a great brief’ or ‘That was a great result.’” Jakovic strongly believes that the outcome of the case and the quality of the lawyer’s work should be taken into consideration.