What Are Commoditized Legal Services?

There has been a lot of discussion over the last several years about commoditized legal services.  There is nothing terribly scientific about commoditizing legal services.  It simply means that you define the typical tasks you typically complete for typical type of project, document the process by which those tasks are completed, and put a flat fee price on the deliverables for the client.

For instance, our law firm offers a non-compete agreement assessment for employees based on a defined set of deliverables.  The flat fee pricing depends on how much compensation is at issue and how complex the issue is to be sorted out.  However, an employee who needs to make a decision related to a non-compete agreement can retain our law firm to provide answers to the initial set of questions concerning non-compete enforceability and options and recommendations regarding risks, strategies and options moving forward.  We offer a similar non-compete agreement assessment for employers.

The advantages of a defined deliverable flat fee project are – well – huge.  Imagine being the client of your own law firm and having the lawyer tell you the eight to twelve deliverables that you will receive and the exact cost for those deliverables.  Don’t you think you’re in a much better position to say “yes.”  Clients are very skeptical and wary of hourly billing practices.  In many instances, they never call their attorney because they’re afraid that they will be billed for the phone call (that’s pretty stupid if you’re a businessperson trying to learn your client’s problems). 

Now let’s think about the whole concept of “defined deliverables.”  The ability to list any number of items that the client will actually receive as the result of paying a fee really makes legal services tangible.  For a non-compete project, the deliverables might be something similar to these:

1. Review the non-compete threat letter you received, your non-compete agreement and the accompanying information;
2. Interview you regarding background facts concerning the non-compete agreement, your past employer and current employer;
3. Research the former employ's line of business in comparison with your current employment duties;
4. Research key non-compete cases, statutes, and other legal and non-legal points of leverage;
5. Detail our opinions in a letter with recommendations on a response.

Perhaps excepting some aspects of litigation, virtually any legal service can be commoditized.  And yes, we do do litigation on a flat fee basis.  While some clients still prefer to be billed by the hour, they always prefer to work within a defined deliverable and a documented strategy.

In order to accumulate the best information on the web concerning commoditized legal services, we have started a new category at Overflowlegal.com title “commoditized legal services flat fees and service innovation.”