Our flexible and innovative approach to fee arrangements sets us apart from other top-tier firms that handle the same types of large, complex litigations.
Traditional hourly billing arrangements have been a mainstay of the legal profession for decades. Although that system affords a rough correlation between the work done on a client's behalf and the amount paid for that work, that correlation is far from perfect. In a traditional hour-based billing system, work done efficiently and well often does not receive appropriate compensatory recognition—regardless of how successful that efficient work may have been. Moreover, in that same traditional system, even inefficient and unnecessary work produces additional compensation.
Because of the basic lack of alignment of interest between lawyer and client under traditional billing systems, Desmarais LLP has chosen to abandon hour-based billing systems entirely. Instead, Desmarais LLP has chosen to work with each of its clients to develop fee arrangements more nearly tailored to our clients' interests. For clients who want predictability, that fee structure may take the form of a flat fee negotiated at the outset. Alternatively, for clients interested in a shared-risk approach for their matter, in appropriate cases we will consider a contingent-fee arrangement. We are also open to hybrid fee structures that incorporate some combination of both models, for example some recurring or flat fee coupled with success bonuses tied to actual achievement of our clients' litigation goals. In our experience, one or more of these approaches can be employed or readily modified in order to develop a custom fee structure that meets the needs of that particular client and that particular case, and which will provide a sensible foundation for a lasting attorney-client relationship.
