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'ITMAKESCLIENTS SUSPICIOUS.ANDJTMAY,BEUNETHICAL

:.'-'-" -,- . .'. .

'T.. ...... ". ". HREE

SilMiRS4G(),MY\VFE AND I WERE..,....... d.. ddving my/two older kids to theairpoft,

". The academic year was about to resume. .... ... "I'he yóeng9chHd, my 'on, "' rem.,to college; the older,my daughrer,tolaw-schoo1.

"Say," Ihearelmysonask his sisterinthebaCkseat,"what do you think you'll do when yoügçrdoiiewithlaw school?" '. .., ..' .. . . .'. '.

My daughter e:ipressed some uncertaiiity but endedup answering, "IthkI'U becometlliti~tor.';

I nearly hit the brakes.... .'. . .' ."Oh," I heardinyselfmoan,"don'tb~alitigaJor."My advice to my daughter had the usuaJ.çffeati

anotherde.monstrationufNewton'sthird. law, tlcpIit

about equal andopp()sit~Jçaçtio#S;arule.tliatRIs()4¡i"plies to parental advice;'Befót-etheacadeÌcycarwas.'over,. niydaughter had enrolled in a legal cliic and d

tried her first and second. lawsui ts.iiw:asthoseexpel"-

ences,rathenhan aiiytgshe hèard fromme, that led .'her.away fcolltliecourtrooni.

. But, candidly,Iwasslocked by my OWn reaction.Because for the last 20 years I have chosen to. contiuemy occasional role as a litigator, despite having the Dp-don not £octo So tliaiiRstomy Iii:èrarciirçer.ffiàve'al':

ScottTiirow, theouthoro/Presumedlnnocçnt.lJflds(JenotJer novels, is a partner in t/¡e ChlcagoolfceofthelQY firmSon.nensc/¡einNáth. & Rosenthal Tnisorticleis excerpted

froin Raising thellar, a collection of esNaySbyovo1jetyofouthors about the mOtfcmprocticeo.tlaWJ,fghichfgŽllbe pub-lished t!lismonthby Firs Choir Press. For moreinformo-lion,go toabanet.org/abastore. . ..

, -- .-..'.32 ABA JOURNALAiigtlst 2007

Reprinted by permission, ABA Journal, 2007

ways believedtliat I've had a charmed life as .a court-room lawyer. When I lefdawschool,Tcould not imag-

ine becoming anything other tbanalitigaror. The .courtroom was whei:e tiie law was made, where thefundamental struggle to fit the law to facts tookplace.

The people writing contracts were,inmyyouthfulview, .nOt much differentfromconsultants. Although I 'have learned. to love and appreciatehuMredsof trarîs~actionallawyers inthe years since,I notice, in looking.OVer my novels, that I have not yet had a hero whoisan~other kincl ofa lawyer but a Iitigator.!Iyprotagonistshave beenprosecurors, criminal defenseJiiwyets, ajudge,a tort lawyer, a commercial litigator~ven journalists.

. ButJ1odealgiiysorgals.Jntherritricted zone or myhnagination, itsthe lítIgiitors who are t1e. teal thing.

So 'Why is it""givçn thesatIsfactioil I've taken frombeing a litigator-that some piece of my heart shriekedout in opposition to thè idea of niY child doingthe samei

CONTEMPORARY WOESi BELIEVE WHT MOTIVATEDMY OUTCRY,INA FEW WORDS,is that! think it would be hard fot soineonestarring to-dáyt() have itasg,qqd .as lhalle.hadt.1.liecmi&o.pa:Ifito pride has grown too high. Andthe contemporary en-vironment has become much less congenial to aspects ofthe lawyering crafttti'at deeply p1èäsednie.Weallhearthe complaints froID Our colleagues, especially thoseinmyage range who've been doing this now fordecades. For tooinany litigatQrs,.QurIife increas-ingly Is a highly. paid serfdom__a cage of rclen t ~less hours; .'ruthless. opponents; constantdeadliries and merc¡less ineffciencies.

By now it's obvious that the U.S. Supreme Court's1977 decision in Blltes'V. krizona, which invalidated onFir~t: Amendment grounds the longtime baron lawyeradvertising, was the opening calUonshot that essentially

. setoffthecompetitivé",ar in our profession. In doing

so, it did no favor to lawyers'lifestyles. The free flowofinformationaboutwho.ismaking what that

soon fol-

lowed-courtesy of TóeAmßrÍtan Lamrer-ushered in

the big-firms tar system,jIl Vlhichrainmakers rule. Be-cauSe theyarethelawyc.(swhocanlUosteasily set up

shop elsewhere; the th~ea.tposedby that mobility inturn has cued theStrûggleineveryJirm roensurethat

incomeS remaínhigh,es!)éciaUyat the top of the pyramid.Not that we, iii the bar, have any right to complairt

Thdierce compe.titíqnthat ii()W characterizes the busi-ness of beiiig alawyeriseX'ctlywhat the market requires.No matter how much we'd likeitwbeothefVise,law-

yers can'tdaim anypIIvilegetolive bydiffecciitrulesfrom everybody else in ourecpnqmy.. ..' .... .... . .'.

But l.stillbelieve.that lawYersjngeiierakandHtiga~tors in particular, areyettoconfrontthe iealisticlimitsof that competitive erivìronment...Ad iiitlisregard

there isnomore viciousculpritthan thepracticpofbasing our fees solely on the time spentona.OlattcL

Dollars times hourssoundslike a formulaforfairness.What cOiild.bemoreequicablethan basing a fee on howlpnga.p:dharda litigat(irwork.ed to¡esolyea1ila.trer? But

'.asasyste.i it' a prison. WhényouaresellngyOlJr tifie,there are o~lythree ways to make more money-higher

. .......rates, .longerhoW"sandliore leverage. As the years havegone on, the tia~lïbasGontinuedon all three fronts.. ,,-, ..... -' .'-:-:'-.,' .-;-',:'-',',-', -."......... ",. .'................- - - .HOURS AMOK . ..........i ........ .'. .... ...iLET ME BE. CLEAR: 1 DON'T UlKTIJREISANTHINGwrOng with lawyers makingmoney.j?he,r~is auniquesatisfaction in represe.oting sOIheb()ar~eUlUd.beingrewardedforit in a manner commeflsünit~dwiththeeffort and skil cequired,i am not engagedherein ajeremiad aimed at gettig litigators tójoiaIiYOWii()f ... .'povercyor even to agree to make less. JbêUe'Ve enoughinithefree market tok¡iow that if what we àskol!f eli,.eÌltstQtiayus wasn 'tw'?~th it tOthem, theywouldrt'rcontinue to dpit; Myconcernjswith the externaltf,... .....fccaofthesystem we are 1'oWfollowing. .... ........ ....j ii

'Coiisiaer, fore1'aIlPle,.the cOiisequencçapfdQlIaJ"s'.tinieshoursfor thoseéntetingtheprofessiOJ);\VhènI'"left thegoyernmentforpcivaiç practice in 1986, thehoursexpectation for y~ungIlIwyecswas'l,75.a- .....1,800 hours ayeac in the.laI~e(Jhicago ... '.

firms. 1'oday it's2,OOO-2,lQRven2,200 hours. And the only ¡-eiirO\Jt~

erboundary is that there ared24hours in a day-and 168ina .week. Increasingly, if we al-low time for trivialities likeeating, sleeping and lov-ing other people, it isclear, asa simple matterof arithmetic, that we

are getting close to the absolute limit of how far thissystem can take us economically.

DIMINISHING RERNSMORE TELLINGLY, THE PROSPECTS FOR SUCCESS FORlawyers have markedly diminished over the years. Vir-

tually all.firms today make fewer partners and take alonger time to do it. And the smaller you make the eyeofthe needle, the more young lawyers arrive on the jobas uncommitted nomads; at best, acquiring skills they'lltiikeelsewhere; at worst, cynically tring ropilc up mon-ey before the ax falls. But both states of mind alienatetheni sOinew hat from the workplace,. the colleagues

theywòrkwith and the clients they seive.'. Worstoflll, however, is that when somebody is work-

ing2,200 hours a year, he or she has less chance to pur-

sue the professional experiences that nourish a lawyer'ssouL. Lawyers of all stripes can and should offer theirseivices for free to the needy, but I find it hard to imag-ine more satisfying work than pro bono litigation. Thatis because when you give the poor and powerless accessto a just forum, there is a triumph-no matterwliat theoutcome in a case. And the lawyer who is involved indoing that learns au invaluable lesson about the powerand goodness that is inherent inbeing a lawyer.

I don't know manyyoung lawyers who leave law school

without dreams of becoming probono princes and prin-cesses; nor is there a dream of youth that seems to die .faster. In my own firm, we' giveY(J~ng Ia\V.ers some bil-able credit fOr pro bono time andalsohaveafull"time

pro bono parmer who works hard to el)gagethefirm's ..lawyers in these projectS. And we are hardly alone ìi theprofession; many other firms make simila.refforts. Theseare noble gestures-and oneS fully worth undertaking.But it's still a little like KingCanliteorderingthesea tó'roll backward. As long as itsdollars.times):ours times

partners, we know that the tide wil always rise..

Let me again make it clear that I. am nOt calling for

lawyers toband togethcr' to abandon hourly biling. The. .antitrustlivisionof the Justice Departmentwould be

likely to have something.to sayaboutthat,~ndwellit

ShOlJI&' Biit 1 am hoping thatlawyers,especíally litiga- "t()rs,willmoIeOfteu beboldenoughw cansider offerìig.c1ient$:iJternative billingarrangeIliel1ts.iAndI hopeclieptswillbeboldcnougli Wac~eptdiem. ......" d'~1aIiYYearsagon()w, 'lwentshoppingfora lawyerin

Hollywood toccpresent me inth~dealiiigsI haveb~en.. foítunatetohavewithmoyieandtelevision

. producers in c0nneCtloii-withniY books.Narurally,liisked each of the la\\-

yers Ispoketoabout his or herhourly rate~()ne attorney an-swered,"Wedon't bill .

hourly. We use the fairfeeinethod."

Thenlasked, "Pray

tell,whatis that?"

"Well," he said,"we do the work,

1

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J1

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l

,

arid at the ent1weget tDgetherapdàgreeabout what's afair fee. " This sounded to. mcliktiin invÎtationtD jumpwithoutkno.wlngwhethertMr~was.waterinthepDDl."Trust me" ÌS.:lOta persuasl"eniotto..A sDlid. eCDno.mic

relatIDnshiponghtto startoutwithbDth sides' uiider~staIldingdie~cDpe o.ftheengageineit.

One reasDn that dollars, tuneshDurs co.ntinues toprevailisbeciiuseit'sbard to.. devise a fair alternative;Co.lurnbussetting Dut fromSpain,destined,ins()me

nii~ds,t()sai1offtheendQfth(:Eait:li,probably. hail, a'better' idea what he was htiided..forthan elthera IiiwyerotacIient 'attheincepti9Aora: piece of litigation~

Whatever:ilternativea~rallgements are made have tohe flexible enough to;idaptto. changing knDwledge and

that rule canreally be fulflled by hourly based. fees.

It is fair toassume,of co.urse, that sDphisticatedcli-entS3re f\.Ily aware of the hazards of being biled bytheliour.'Butweall know that conflct waivers requuemOre than fair ass umptions. .

WhenwastlieJast time any of us actuaUyandexplic-itlysetforth the problems. ofthissystei:fo.r acIient;

the way we dÓwith other co.nficts? Who ever says to acliei:tthat my billing systemoriitsface rewards me;iYour expense fo.r.slo.wpro.blem-solving, dUpIicai:wrÚ)feffuftífeatherbeddingtle workf9rce.'and'.compulsive"

'oesS'i.9ttomentio.n fuzzy i:ath. Do.es anybody ever

teUäclient what the rule seeOÚIlgly req uIres?''lwantyou. to .understand.thatI'm go.ingto billyou

--,. " " -.-. - .

\NHE.f\iVVASTHEtAST TIME ANY OF. US ACTUALLYAND EXPLICITLYSET FORTH THE PROBLEMS OFTHISSYSTEMFOR ACUENl:

THE WAY WE DO WITH OTHER CONFLICTS?

.'tlicunexpected. It wil take.so.me education and exper-...... irnencatIonop hothsides;. But Idiink we have1eached..the pointwh~rethatis virtually required.

.. The'ridespreadpracticeof billng bythè ho.ursex-ist:s almo.st indefiancc= of the principles that are sup-post:d to gideo.ur. pë()fessìon.Oftheeight.. guidelinesmentioneqjn..RuleL5 ..(F ees)çÍ:theABA'Model RulesofPro.fessign,aI Conduct, only. o.nespc=aks.t:íiectlYto the

.'. ............... '. time spe(it.~1l dlelegiil task.)'et, despite ,the. fact that". ..our profcssign's guidiiigethicalrUe encourages lawyers

.,.iito,lookiôowcr factors, dollars rimes ho.ursæmainsthe.'. .........:?~runiver~îllst:nd~rd()f cOllerciåI.litigatio.n.

o.n ahasis in whic;hthe frankccooo.micinc:encives favo.rprolo.ngingrathcrthanSlio.rtcningthe.litigåtion fo.r whichyou've.hired me.".Thetruthjsthateven.to. imaginethat co.nversatiDnwo.uldalmOstnecessarily require thelaWyer to be preparedtooffeltheclient analterniitIvi;.

I understandsQmeoft;tcpuitterweights.. to. w1iafl'vejust said. There is,IIOtc:thanilit~eIlerittotheigeathatthemarketwiU re",ardeffcientlawyerswho IanortöhDlddown their. fees in ..the reëo.giiition thaqhisWilIleadto.fllther. engàgemems..f9ofcpurst:ijust.liketheYfst,vastniajQrItyofself~rcsi-e~tingpl"a(:titionersi.lcalIsaywithco.nviction. thaSI'..lJaYrfi7yerc9nSciotlslyorqered

work or labol"èdlo.nger .fo.rth'e:iiikeofiuereasing my' '.bills. I think that litigau)J's'Who. sendoutbiUs aregener-ally as stunned as their clients by the way time piles up.

But let's not assume thisisproo.fthe lawyerreaso.n-ably believes the representatio.n will not beinaterIaIlyafected. Ho.W many tinu~shave ytii heard ala'\erspeak.

mQurnfully ofthecasethátsettIcdrailjé,ftliangoing to. ..tria~with theresultingdeuimei:tal iinpactofitlat law~

yer's eco.no.mic fo.rtunes? . . ..' .More tdlingly, who among us ciinsay he or she has

neveraceused the lawyer o.n the other side of "runningthemeter"-ofdoing unnecessarydîscovery filing frivo.-lo.us mo.tio.ns o.r foo.t-draggingbefore engaging in mean-ingfuI'settlement talks..ll.to.padthe.fee. And that's

not just to. make excuses to. the client. When we say it,

we mean it Lo.o.king at the lawyerontheo.ther side ofthe V., we can see clearly ho.w the temptation to. earnmo.reoúght impact a representatio.n.Ifwe can

see theeffects o.fthe doHars-times-"hours system so clearlywhen we lo.ok acro.ss tlie co Ufrroo.m, how can we beso fully co.nfident about ourselves?

Perso.naIly, I doubt that greed is the principal mo.tiva-tio.n fDrche overwhelming' majo.rity in o.ur professio.n, in-cIudingmy oppo.nents.First and foremo.st, lawyers wantto believe they have do.ne tIeir utmOSt fo.r their clients-and it would be a Tare attorney indeed who too.k much

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A"g"s/ 2007 ABA JOURNAL 35

1l8Le~ai OnRamp is acoíiabo~ S8~ofle8diniiriidaparlenl.lllfI iindlnovaUV 8eMce J)der&OUrJ'b Isiomake lawb8lr, far end cJieePBr.

Welcome to CDCoCepils'a HoilSloibasll l8lBCommunlaUoOliflrmflallolnii ii Ilnr us\iimajonuiorai-iind llr100 leedli lawflmis on LegalOnRemp.

satisfaction out of thinking of himself as well-paid butincompetent orundedicated. Like every other conflctissue, the problem is one of appearances and temptations.But how can anyone ever know exactly why certan mar-

ginal tasks were undertaken? Anybody who has ever in-vestigated a case or prepared to try one knows there isno limit to the potential issues, avenues for investiga-tions, questions to be researched, or variable scenariosthat the courtroom might offer. Dollars times hours sub-tly influences lawyers not to ask themselves what's mostprobable. It offers scant rewards for discipline.

The more often lawyers find themselves engaged inwheel-spinning, in runng out ground balls rather thanfocusing on the strike zone, the more isolated they feelfrom the príncipal goals of the profession, which will al-

36 AnA JOURNAL AUR1M 2007

ways be doing justice. But again, it's the effect on thelawyer-client relationship that is the principal problem.

FEE FIASCOAS A RESULT OF HOURLY BILLING, THE FEE COLLECTINGprocess has grown far more fractious. There are now lawfirms that specialize in disputing other firms' biiis~andin~house nudniks who demand copious details and thenflyspeck them. Other clients search for means, whetherit'sstrictiitigatioii budgeting or task-value billing, toput a finger in the dike. But what does it do to the en-vironment of our profession, to our perception of our-selves and our clients' perceptions of us, that we arelocked into a system in which clients arc saying from thestart of the relationship: I can't really trust you to be fair

'((lime. If there is even a grain of truth to thatcharacted-zacion, how reasonable, is it to believe thatoue represcn-

"C~,tIons have not been materially

affected?i,~riicrica is ambivalent about lawyers. People are im-

;;g57f~ed'With our knowledge and the power thatknowl-.,~~g,~gi~'esus, andjcalous orit as welL. They sec us as

çgR?ft.e;Il~tlf~see~ing, inanipulative and greedy. We aUlitip'\~\rlVJ.tyiìsisIlota balanced picturc. Every timeIhear

~R,q~f,i~l)tJ1"-~xoni:rationon radio or TV, I wait vainlytOlJé~r'~li~rlkpo.,rjsthe restofthe story-about thc'liny~ersjjis,lIaHr:ill~rmy?f them, who worked for years,gener~UYf(r.frS~,tQ¡,ivc that prisoner back his liberty.1'n,estqrY?ftli¡:Iawycipqingg()od because he or sheis cOnlllli (tcdt(y ~oirig gQodis. not one of the narrativethemes A incrîcanrnedillure fond of presenting because

it'sl1()tsomething the publiewants to hear.BuÜecognizing how farbehind the eight ball we re-

main ¡nthe eyes of the public, should we reallyeontin-uetoengage in billing practices that even our clients,who know us best, have beentelIing us inspire distrust?

lflhad only one wish for our profession from the

proverbial genic, I would want us to move towardsome-trung better than dollars times hours. We haveereated azero-sum game in which we are selling uur lives, notjust our time. We are fostering an environment thatdoesn't provide the right incentives for young lawyersto live out the ideals of the profession. And weaiefeed~ing mispereeptions of our intentions as lawyersthatdis-cupt our relationships with our clients. Somehow, peopleas smarr and dedicated as we are can do better. ~

Augiisi Zth17 Alt\ J0~':~'. ..37