I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret about your ‘solo’ lawyer, one I discovered when I went solo myself. How they make it rain.
Buckle up.
You probably know the BigLaw version. A first-year at a big firm earns $225,000, works upwards of 3,000 hours. About $75/hour. Billed to you at $900. It’s why one ‘elite’ firm just earmarked $500MM (!) of their clients’ hard-earned Benjies for a proprietary AI platform. Funded out of revenue (read, markup).
But this isn’t about BigLaw. Your ‘solo’ or ‘boutique’ lawyer may be doing the same thing.
You hire a lawyer for their credentials: an Ivy-league degree, years at a ‘white-shoe’ firm, and a decade or two of experience. You email them to draft your product’s terms of use, and get a draft back days later. What they aren’t telling you: they didn’t draft it; a cheaper lawyer with lesser qualifications did. And they may not have even reviewed it. You paid for the pedigree and got someone else’s work. And you’re none the wiser.
Yeah.
Here’s the game. Your lawyer sees the email, then posts a ‘job opportunity’ to an online marketplace. A struggling lawyer takes it at $200/hour. Your lawyer bills you $800/hour for the same work, pocketing the difference.
The ethics rules generally require client consent before lawyers at different firms can split a fee. The workaround? ‘Hire’ other lawyers as 1099 ‘contract attorneys,’ and bill under your own brand. Technically not a fee division: no consent needed, and usually nothing to disclose.
Check your engagement letter and their website. You probably won’t find it disclosed. The rules require lawyers to be honest about their rate and time worked. They don’t require them to disclose what the work cost them, or what they add on top. Rate, yes. Markup? Nein.
Right after this post, ping your ‘solo’ or ‘boutique’ lawyer:
“Has anyone other than you ever done the work I ask of you? Did you bill me more than that person cost you, overhead aside? Did you review their work? If so, did you bill me for that review?”
When vetting prospective counsel, do the same.
They may have an answer ready: “It’s my license on the line,” “It’s for my firm’s stamp of approval,” or “Everyone does it.”
Hol’ up.
Stamp of approval? How, without fully reviewing the work? And their license on the line? Are they charging you a premium for that risk, in case the chickens come home to roost? And everyone doing it? THAT is the problem.
Want to make them squirm? Insist that they total the markup they’ve charged you over time. They can’t lie to you. (To my clients: my answer is, and will always be, zilch.)
Then walk.
If you’re a lawyer who does this, make your case publicly, where your clients can read it. Go ahead. I triple-dog dare ya.
Just be patient for my response; I actually do the work for my clients.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Not legal advice.
