Dallas Attorney Costs
Serving Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Midlothian and Waxahachie, Texas
Why Legal Services Cost So Much...
H
ave you ever walked into one of those big, downtown law firms on the 50th floor of some skyscraper and marveled at the hundreds of attorney and secretaries, at the brass and marble and mahogany? As a businessman, did you ever wonder how your lawyers pay for their luxurious offices and huge staff?
The Way Other Law Firms Work
The old form of law firm depends on a pyramid structure of "associates" who report to either "partners" or "shareholders." The firm makes its profits by billing more for the associates' time than the associates cost the firm in salaries and overhead. The associates have no direct interest in the success or failure of the client, and thus have no incentive to keep the firm's customers happy. However, the associates have every incentive to maximize the number of hours that they bill to those clients.
This is because everyone working in the old style law firm understands that the key to their individual success is not responsiveness to the client, but is instead the number of "billable" hours that can be generated on each client's file. Even the most junior associate knows that his job is dependent not on the results he obtains for the client, but instead on the amount of time that he can successfully bill to the client.
The Cost
Imagine that you are one of the partners or shareholders at the top of this billing pyramid. You are paying each of dozens (or hundreds) of associates $100,000 per year, or more. Many firms in Dallas are actually paying brand new lawyers who have no experience at all $90,000 per year. If you are a partner in such a firm, you must somehow come up with enough money from your clients to pay all of these salaries, plus ensure a profit.
You must keep those associates billing for every minute of their time, whether the work done actually benefits the client, or not. You must charge their time out at the highest rate possible. The pyramid structure of the old-fashioned law firm has become a trap that no one can escape.
Until Now.
At one time, the things that made the old-fashioned law firm so expensive and inefficient were necessary. Computer aided research did not exist or did not work well, so thousands of dollars each year had to be spent on books, and legions of young attorney had to be on staff to laboriously research legal matters. All law firms did everything "in house," so each firm would duplicate, at great expense, the capabilities that every other firm had. The result was inevitable: huge law firms with tremendous excesses in legal manpower that the client had to pay for in order to obtain competent legal help.
The vast majority of law firms were constructed on this model and have retained it to this day. But the model is as out of date as the UNIVAC, and is just as inefficient and expensive.
Please select from our links for information about our services or click on the map for directions to our offices:
About Us- Business Law
- Injury Law
- Insurance Law
- Medical Malpractice Law
- Personal Injury News
- Our Personal Injury Blog
The personal injury attorneys of Polewski & Associates help accident victims get the compensation they deserve. If you were seriously injured in an accident, please call us today.
Highland Park Place |
1229 E. Pleasant Run Road #120 |
117 N 8th St |
Call 972-228-1716 or
Toll Free 866-228-1716
