Value-Based Fees: How to Charge—and Get—What You're Worth: A Guide for Consultants, Second Edition

2.4. WHY LAWYERS AND CPAS DO SO POORLY

The problem with professions that use time-and-materials charges is that the practitioners have no real appreciation for their own value and hence cannot adequately (or dramatically) convey their value to the client. Let's look at some cases in point.

2.4.1. Attorneys

Lawyers have finally understood that their ultimate worth is not in their activity but in their results. Therefore, contingency fees have begun to proliferate. It's not uncommon for a law firm to take 30 percent or 40 percent (or even more in some conditions) of the total client settlement.

The problem is that the attorneys often take this, as they say at the craps tables in Las Vegas, as "betting on the come." This means that if they lose the case, they not only fail to collect any fee but are also out their legitimate legal expenses. This is high-stakes gambling, and it leads to at least four ethical quandaries:

1. Pushing the case beyond the plaintiff's patience or commitment, because, in for a dime in for a dollar, it's cheaper to invest more on the hope of a possible victory than to simply abandon all prior investment

2. Avoiding early settlements in the hope of hitting the jackpot of a huge jury decision or a more favorable last-minute settlement in the face of a damaging trial

3. Taking on cases of questionable legal merit or suing parties not really at fault but who have deep pockets and wealthy insurers

4. Desperate legal tactics to try to save a case at the last minute

NOTE

There ...