Law Department Management Blog
A major company in the southeast has all of its law firms that handle appeals provide their services at a fixed rate. Not the same fixed rate for each appeal, but each appeal is handled on its own negotiated fixed fee.
A UK-based law department has negotiated flat fees for its firms that help prepare positions statements in employment matters. (By the way, is a “fixed” fee one that a firm and department agree to in advance, whereas a “flat” fee is one that a law department decides on and mandates for whichever law firms take on a certain kind of work?)
A third fee arrangement establish some clear-cut difference between types of similar matters, and sets a different fee for each type. Let’s apply this idea. Obtaining a zoning variance for residential might be one tier (and fee), for commercial might be a second tier/fee, and for mixed use a third.
For more on fixed (flat) fees, see my posts of Sept. 14, 2005, about Cisco and its 75% flat-fee arrangements, Sept. 10, 2005 about such fees in litigation, and Oct. 31, 2005 on the competitive bidding process.)