By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:18:23 +0000

I do not begrudge my colleagues who charge $700 an hour. At the same time, some hours are worth more than others. Seven hundred dollars is worthwhile when a lawyer can pick up the phone and make a problem go away in 8 hours. It may not be worthwhile where lawyers are simply tracking or aggregating information for status reports or preparing “white papers” or memos for clients. There are many solo and small firm lawyers, such as myself who have expertise in areas like renewable energy and climate change and offer alternative billing rates and flat fees and are probably more cost effective for companies for many matters. Indeed, I would be the first to outsource a complicated financing or shareholder litigation to a larger firm.

By: Mike Parr

Mike Parr — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:48:28 +0000

Indeed, the rabble in Bruxelles are even now rubbing their hands with pleasure. Those companies that feel the need to employ our learned friends should ask themselves this: what, exactly do lawyers bring to the party. Most of em’ know little about climate change and less about the technologies that could something about it. In the days when I did trade disputes (the injury study part) I realised that in fact, lawyers could be characterised as short hand typists (please take a note Miss Jones). As I built the story to defend the client the lawyers fleshed it out into words. Do you really need to pay somebody $700 per hour to do that? Still, as my gran used to say, fools and their money are easily parted. In this case, I think companies are being foolish and the lawyers are cashing in on the credulity of their “clients” or was that “cash machines” (is there a difference?)

Comments on: Lawyers Charge Top Dollar For Climate Change Work

By: Carolyn Elefant

By: Mike Parr