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Ron Baker

Hi Chuck,

There is much to dispute in your post, but since space is limited I will attempt brevity.

The billable hour is dying for a simple reason: There's no proven economic theory that shows there's a relationship between time (inputs) and value to the customer.

It's the wrong theory. My think tank, VeraSage Institute, is on a quest to bury the billable hour, and the timesheet. There are hundreds of Professional Knowledge Firms that don't use timesheets, despite your belief they are necessary, including Chris Marston's firm that is on your Blog roll.

How do they do it? We have an entire Web site dedicated to explaining it, along with many Fellows who live and breathe this topic every day in their own practices.

You can read three free ACCA books by me on this topic (Burying the Billable Hour; Trashing the Timesheet; and You Are Your Customer List), at:

http://www.verasage.com/index.php/resources/C55/

For some interesting posts on timesheets and the billable hour, see:

http://www.verasage.com/index.php/community/comments/are_lawyers_really_this_intellectually_lazy/

http://www.verasage.com/index.php/community/comments/the_billable_hour_must_die_by_scott_turow/

http://www.verasage.com/index.php/community/comments/ask_verasage_how_do_you_measure_client_profitability_and_employee_productiv/

I sympathize with your plight of having to account for time to the courts, which will always lag behind the free market by decades.

But in the majority of legal cases, clients want to know the price BEFORE they engage an attorney. We expect this for EVERYTHING else we purchase as human beings. Why do people think it's different for lawyers (or other professionals)?

Last I checked, law firms are subject to the same economic laws as airlines, hotels, etc. To think they are not is folly cloaked in "professionalism" rhetoric.

I hope this contributes to the debate.

Sincerely,
Ron Baker, Founder
VeraSage Institute
www.verasage.com

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