Billing Roundup

Kraft Foods Free Market Award given to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
The firm cut legal costs not by introducing alternative billing, not by arbitrarily offering a discount to cut the bottom line, rather they found, "easy, common sense ways to reduce" the bill by "moving matters around to different offices in various cities".

Pfizer Legal Alliance
A group of 19 law firms that receive a flat annual fee for all the work completed over the entire year for the company. The Alliance took roots in 2004 when then GC Allen Waxman reduced the companies outside lineup by 80 percent to 39 firms in a program called Pfizer Partnering Program. It was, "designed to find a mutually agreeable way to promote strategic thinking and give the client predictability and stability". It's not about discounts but building better long-term relationships with outside counsel says GC Amy Schulman.

Levi Strauss has one law firm, Orrick.
Orrick partner Johnson-McKewan uses the words"open and flexible" and "trust" to describe the multimillion dollar arrangement between her firm and Levi Stauss where Orrick now handles all of the company's legal work worldwide in exchange for a fixed yearly fee paid in monthly increments (Townsend and Townsend and Crew continues brand protection work).

Law Firm initiated alternative
Smithline Jha's monthly subscription model delivers predictability to clients. For the monthly subscription model to work it has to be a practice area that is steady, Smithline Jha specializes in IP Licensing for software and Internet companies. In-house counsel and private practice attorneys agree that this model will not work for litigation. In the words of the firm, "The net effect was we got so much closer to our clients" -who doesn't want that?

There is no one-size fits all solution to billing arrangements. But there is a requirement for any creative agreement: LISTEN to your clients!