They Are Catching On, Along With Client Requests for Discounts.
Co-contributor Mike, who is a member of the American Bar Association, found an interesting article by Debra Cassens Weiss dated January 17, 2012 in the ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter, where she summarized a recent American Lawyer report on alternative fee arrangements this way:
“ . . . [in an] American Lawyer survey of leaders at large law firms[, . . . ] more than 81 percent said more clients are seeking discounts, and about 55 percent said clients are asking for deeper discounts. Of the law firms that used alternative or value-based fees in 2011, 92 percent had used flat fees, 88 percent had used blended rates, 83 percent used incentive or success fees, and 82 percent used collars or caps. ([. . .] a collar is an arrangement where there is an agreed-upon flat fee, and a discount when the bill exceeds the flat fee by a certain percentage.)”