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Big LOLyers- how many of you work on fixed / capped fee arrangements?
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Date: February 10th, 2026 6:10 AM Author: doobsian startling stead we have been doing that with all outside counsel, even our "high-end" V20 lawyers. The only hourly billable matters a few small litigation things that we send to small law. How common is this? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49659968) |
Date: February 10th, 2026 6:15 AM Author: lascivious casino blood rage I generally don't but I know I'm a dying breed (niche boutique practitioner, former bigLOL) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49659976) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 6:23 AM Author: doobsian startling stead I see that for small/boutique gigs. But we negotiate a cap/fixed fee for everything now except small lit. Sometimes it gets renegotiated, but my boss and I will not authorize any legal bills without the fee pre-approved. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49659991) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 6:32 AM Author: bronze soul-stirring becky milk I literally do not do this for individual criminal-defense clients (actually sometimes for appeals, but not trial).
My God, fuck Kirtland and the shitlawification of this profession. |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 6:35 AM Author: lascivious casino blood rage (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660006) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 6:40 AM Author: doobsian startling stead can anyone actually bill hourly for crim defense? I thought everything there was cash on the barrel (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660022) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 7:33 AM Author: bronze soul-stirring becky milk Yeah the top folks in every market (I am by no means in a top market) bill hourly against a massive and periodically replenished retainer.
There is some truth to the idea that you should be prepared to not make a dollar more than you have in your trust account, but it need not be taken to the extreme of "you must always take on day 1 an amount that WILL exceed your max total fee." You just need to stay well ahead of your billings.
If you game it out, it isn't as bad for the lawyer as it seems. Yeah some judges won't let you withdraw b/c your client quit paying you, but Orchid AltruiHealth CEO dr. pradeep scamsami doesn't want an unpaid maf lawyer leading his case anymore than you do. |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 9:07 AM Author: doobsian startling stead Fair enough. How many of those cases with Dr. Poopdeep Scamsami have the fees paid by insurance or the company? I figured most of it comes from Scamsami himself or his relatives (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660212) |
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Date: February 12th, 2026 12:47 AM Author: bronze soul-stirring becky milk Bro there are random indians and pakis living in $900K ranch houses in 1950s-built neighborhoods who have $20-60MM from their scammy/construction/tech companies. Not flame. So yes scamsami pays but he's ultimately good for it, despite being a cheap bastard. The nice thing about crimdef, especially federal (read: your GLs are 108-135 months despite having no criminal history) crimdef, is that the client will pay endless amounts of money for a relatively small increase in his odds of success (doing a great job on a case might mean bringing the odds of conviction down from 96% to 72%), since your money isn't worth much from inside an FCI.
Insurance rarely covers crim def. It's actually more common to see a once-starry-eyed acquirer company agree to cover possible fees at the point of its purchase of a great-bet startup than it is to see insurance. |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 7:09 AM Author: Bespoke Magenta Tanning Salon Death Wish I keep reading articles about how AFAs are more and more common but the reality is the billable hour is still the biggest game in town (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660048) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 9:08 AM Author: doobsian startling stead do you handle bills with clients? I figure most lolyers still track hours but how much of that is reflected in the actual bill? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660214) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 8:28 AM Author: histrionic obsidian place of business volcanic crater In-housemo here, and I try to set these up as often as possible and BigLaw will definitely do it at shockingly low rates if there is some volume. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660116) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 8:32 AM Author: Mentally impaired garnet gaming laptop capped fees are very common (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660127) |
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Date: February 10th, 2026 9:09 AM Author: onyx aromatic area mother on deals or just small well defined projects? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49660215) |
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Date: February 12th, 2026 1:59 AM Author: Mahogany Corner Mad-dog Skullcap We try to avoid fixed fees but discount up to 20-25% and will agree to caps or budgets for almost anything. Messes with our internal metrics which are all based on rack rate * annual target hours. Biggest and smallest clients get the biggest discounts. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5833191&forum_id=2#49665075) |