Few examples of where law firms change how they operate when they land a fixed-fee arrangement

When a law firm is selected to handle a large amount of legal work on a fixed fee, the firm has a wonderful opportunity to conform its internal management practices to the new situation. Yet we don’t hear about such rethinking and innovations in how firms staff fixed-fee matters, train people who work on them, compensate partners, develop knowledge tools, redesign facilities, or alter incentives.

Law departments ought to ask in their RFPs what law firms will do differently if they are selected to handle a block of work on a fixed fee over time. Law firms ought to take the initiative and distinguish their proposals by outlining their progressive thinking. Odd it is that silence enfolds this opportunity.