Value-Based Billing
Getting the best outcomes for your business is only part of your job. You also need to control your legal spend. You need predictability of cost. Perhaps more importantly, you also want the assurance that you are getting actual value for your legal spend.
A larger number of our corporate attorneys were once in-house counsel. We get it. And, we believe that getting such predictability and value is possible for any legal matter, from litigation and business transactions to carefully structured general counsel services engagements through our General Counsel Plus (GC+) Program. We are committed to working with our clients to develop alternative fee arrangements that focus on win-win solutions with an eye towards controlling costs and increasing the quality of services and outcomes. We view our relationship with our clients as a partnership and understand the value of having “skin in the game” to help clients achieve their goals. We routinely use the following types of alternative fee arrangements to maximize and optimize our clients’ legal spend:
Traditional Hourly Rates with Cap
Hourly fees billed but not exceeding an agreed amount
Flat/Fixed Fee Arrangements
Monthly retainer; fixed fee for a particular litigation case, transaction, or matter; or a fixed fee for each phase of a particular litigation case, transaction, or matter
Budgeted Fee with Up & Down Collars
A budget is agreed upon for a particular matter as well as a percentage of the budget (i.e., the “collar”). If the actual legal fees exceed the budget by the amount of the collar, we would only charge an agreed percentage for such overage above the collar. Similarly, if the actual legal fees are below the budget and less than the collar, we would receive a percentage of the savings up to the collar amount
Contingency Fee/Success Fees/Holdbacks
We would each agree upon how success is defined and our billable rate (whether fixed, budgeted, or hourly) would be discounted. If the success milestones/metrics are achieved, a premium fee is paid. If the success milestones/metrics are not achieved, no additional fees are owed
Volume/Tiered Discounts
Discounts off of fixed or hourly rates are provided based upon the volume of work billed over a period of time
Special Programs
We have developed and successfully implemented with our clients numerous legal services management programs such as our Growth Stage Core Legal Services Program, and our General Counsel Plus (GC+) Program.
These programs are tailored to enable our clients to centralize their legal coverage and better manage their legal spend. With both of these programs, each client receives a dedicated Legal Quarterback at Spruce Law who ensures that each matter is handled by the right attorney for the job and that all representation is timely and responsive. Please ask your primary relationship at Spruce Law for more information on these programs and we will provide a free consultation to determine if we can customize a comprehensive contract to service all of your core legal needs
Some of these fee options (as well as any others that you may propose) can be standalone arrangements or combined to provide you with the customized structure you need to ensure predictability and value for your legal spend.
Value-Based Staffing
Almost as important as the billing arrangement is how your legal matters are staffed. While almost all law firms are willing to offer value-based billing arrangements, many do so based on the assumption that staff attorneys or less experienced associates will be doing a majority of the work on such matters, or that such work may even be outsourced.
At Spruce Law, you will not be paying for on-the-job training of inexperienced attorneys. Spruce Law attorneys are seasoned and have practiced in some of the largest global law firms, have led or worked in the legal departments of some of the biggest corporations in the country as well at smaller companies, and have even held non-legal executive roles.
Spruce Law attorneys understand the need to find practical approaches to solving legal and business challenges always with an eye towards controlling legal spend, and we are able to draw on our knowledge base to offer a wider range of options and ideas – providing true and measurable value to your business.