Still Hating America.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man

I'd just rather fight the fight on grounds of "Maybe so, but pro bono is the right thing to do" than argue that pro bono work imposes no marginal costs on the firm.

S_A_M

The problem with that argument is people who think sometimes it's not the right thing to do, because the client is a bad, bad person.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
This one is amusing:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/30/images/farmer.pdf

That is remarkable. Ryan is a crook, while Farmer showed a lot of integrity and guts.

So, who's the model for the legal profession?

S_A_M

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
That is remarkable. Ryan is a crook, while Farmer showed a lot of integrity and guts.

So, who's the model for the legal profession?

S_A_M

This looks a lot like the industry I worked in. Where do you work?

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
The problem with that argument is people who think sometimes it's not the right thing to do, because the client is a bad, bad person.

The problem isn't with the argument.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
This looks a lot like the industry I worked in. Where do you work?

DC.

Surprises me. I don't see anything like that in the bills I review, but on most of these cases, if the Billing Attorney was a crook I wouldn't be able to figure it out unless it was really egregious like in that case. Believe it or not, I don't do that on the few files where I'm the biling attorney.

I am worried now about a paralegal I like and who seems to do a good job, but whose time charges last month just don't make sense to me (on both cases she's working on with me). if the cases were bigger, those charges would have just been lost in the wash.

I'll end up talking to her to see what she says, and then trying to figure out how much to cut the bill. Odds are I'll be more reluctant to use her next time ("Dance of the Lemons").

S_A_M

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
That is remarkable. Ryan is a crook, while Farmer showed a lot of integrity and guts.

So, who's the model for the legal profession?

Who's still practicing at Holland and Knight?

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Who's still practicing at Holland and Knight?

Remarkable.

I had already done a name search on their website, and he didn't come up. I would have thought that the letter would have lead to an "early retirement."

It couldn't have been easy to forward that letter to his client.

S_A_M

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
I don't think so either. (Although the costs (which do include the opportunity costs of attorney time) may have the effect of pushing up billing rates down the line to recoup expenses/restore the old profit margin.)

I'd just rather fight the fight on grounds of "Maybe so, but pro bono is the right thing to do" than argue that pro bono work imposes no marginal costs on the firm.

S_A_M

This entire discussion makes no sense whatsoever.

Law firms charge what they believe the market will bear. Just like any other profit-oriented business.

If a firm limits or eliminates pro bono work, this will not lead to the firm charging less. It will lead either to a reduction in overall hours worked, or an increase in profits. (Or they'll piss the money away on something else, like associate bonuses.)

On occasion, a firm will reduce pro bono hours, or charitable giving, or some other discretionary cost because the firm wants to maintain profitability without increasing rates. But the driving factor, as always, is what the market will bear -- the market will bear only lower rates for that firm's work, so the firm cuts costs, and pro bono is one cost. But this doesn't make pro bono work something that paying clients "subsidize."

I've seen lots of clients or potential clients say "we will only pay X rates." They've never tied that to pro bono ("and if your firm does any pro bono work you must reduce our rate accordingly so we are not subsidizing"). They are simply stating what they are willing to pay, period.

It may be that the firms doing the most pro bono also have the highest rates -- though I doubt it. But, even if that's true, those firms probably also have the highest PPPs, and that is what the clients are "subsidizing."

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch


Law firms charge what they believe the market will bear. Just like any other profit-oriented business.

That's the disconnect. Slave, who works in the corporate world, regularly observes the agency problem that permits corporations to rape shareholders without repercussions. He therefore assumes that law firms can, because of the agency problem, rape their clients.

[SlaveNoMore]

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
That's the disconnect. Slave, who works in the corporate world, regularly observes the agency problem that permits corporations to rape shareholders without repercussions. He therefore assumes that law firms can, because of the agency problem, rape their clients.

Speaking of disconnect - and raping clients for that matter - any of yours have any idea how many hours you guys have billed over the years while posting tripe on these Boards?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Speaking of disconnect - and raping clients for that matter - any of yours have any idea how many hours you guys have billed over the years while posting tripe on these Boards?

It's terrible form to point out the white elephant in the corner.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
It's terrible form to point out the white elephant in the corner.

I just wonder why he didn't include himself in the question.

The answer, inevitably, for most people here will be "far fewer than Penske's".

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Speaking of disconnect - and raping clients for that matter - any of yours have any idea how many hours you guys have billed over the years while posting tripe on these Boards?

Look, I only put .25 hours on that file for "peer consultation", you're the one who dropped the decimal and billed 25 hours.

I've only worked a few 25 hour days.

[Replaced_Texan]

So I have this problem.

The Republican governor of our state went ahead last week and issued an executive order mandating that girls going into sixth grade be innoculated from HPV.

This order happens to be a cash cow for Merck, since the vaccine goes for about $300 a pop.

Merck and the governor are tight enough, though I don't think that the $6,000 in Merck gave last year is enough to sway this sort of decision, to raise eyebrows on the issue.

Republicans are pissed. Pissed, I tell you. There are angry letters being written as I speak. You see, vaccination will promote promiscuity* and if girls get the vaccine then they'll think that it's ok to go out and have sex 24/7, because they're now protected from a sexually trasmitted disease that causes 70% of cervical cancers. The governor says that parents can opt out for health, moral or religious reasons, so if there's a chastity belt already in place, then no worries.

This is where I start to squirm, though. Because, though I firmly believe that this is a good idea and the Republican pro-cancer legislators' points aren't valid, I'm a little irritated that the legislative process wasn't really brought into play. And the Republican legislators have a point there.** This is a policy decision that needs to be tweaked a little before being implemented, especially if public dollars are going to be spent on the project.

Damn my belief in governement and process getting the way in a result I want!

*Motherfucking assholes. I'm sure I didn't need to say it, but I needed to say it.

**'course, none of them bitched a few years go when the Governor issued an executive order regarding the 65% rule on money in the classroom. But kids weren't having sex then.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Speaking of disconnect - and raping clients for that matter - any of yours have any idea how many hours you guys have billed over the years while posting tripe on these Boards?

I'm in house. I haven't billed a client in 5 years.

The rest of you should get back to work.