Austin, Texas-based appellate boutique Alexander Dubose Jones & Townsend is reducing its billing rates in current hourly-fee cases by 10% on January 1st.
Douglas Alexander, a partner in the 13-lawyer firm, notified its clients of the decrease in hourly fees in letters and e-mails.
Roger Townsend, a partner in Alexander Dubose’s Houston office, says the idea behind the reduction is to help the firm’s clients.
But consultant Bill Cobb of Houston’s Cobb Consulting told Texas Lawyer the move “puts [the firm] in a better competitive position with other appellate boutiques out there.”
Clients who will not be impacted by the cut in fees include those who have contingent or flat-fee arrangements with the firm.
Alexander says the firm’s clients range from individuals to Fortune 100 companies. The firm represents those clients in state & federal appellate courts in all types of civil cases, involving anything from personal injury and wrongful death to taxation and breach of contract.
Townsend says he was the first in the firm to suggest cutting hourly billing rates after the idea came to him while meditating.
Via Texas Lawyer.