LI lawyers mull billing by flat fee, not hourly
Photo credit: Handout | The cover of the the book "A.J. & Kirby, a True Story about A.J. Ricahrd and His Cat." Appliance and electronics distributor P.C. Richard is bringing out the book about its late executive. (December 2009)
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Attorney Bill Savino of Rivkin Radler Llp in
Marc Spector and Dave Gise have started
Those billable hours, the way lawyers have traditionally charged clients for legal work, may be going the way of wigs in the courtroom.
Top lawyers on Long Island and in the metropolitan area say that the miserable economy has prompted law firms to offer alternate forms of billing, mostly flat fees.
"I think the economic restraints are giving clients and law firms the opportunity to take a second look" at billable hours, said Bill Savino, managing partner at Garden City-based Rivkin Radler Llp, the Island's largest law firm, with 150 attorneys. Savino and others noted that flat fees, not new in the industry, are becoming more popular in the economic slump.
That goes for individuals as well as companies. A study last month by the Association of Corporate Counsel found that 60 percent of general counsels at companies with more than $1 billion in revenues used flat-fee billing. Sunny J. Barkats, managing partner at Manhattan-based J.S. Barkats, said his eight-member law firm has gone to flat fees for all but unpredictable litigation cases.
"We are changing the entire legal practice away from cold-blooded billing, which belongs to the dinosaur age," Barkats said. "Times have changed." Jerry Reisman of Reisman, Peirez & Reisman Llp in Garden City, said, "The marketplace dictates the fee structure, and the fee structure is reacting to the economy." Things are changing, certainly. But, said Savino, "At the end of the day it's a combination of what you and your client can live with."
In observance of its 100th anniversary, P.C. Richard & Son, the giant East Farmingdale-based consumer electronics and appliance retailer, has released two books: One is a history book, and the other is more unusual. It is a charming softcover children's-style book about the relationship between the late A.J. Richard - son of the company's founder and father of the present chief executive, Gary Richard - and A.J.'s cat, Kirby.
"The Adventures of A.J. & Kirby, a True Story About A.J. Richard and His Cat," tells the story of how Kirby, "a private cat," got trapped in the attic, where he had gone to hide from a stranger. A worried A.J. searched all over but could not find Kirby. But it all ends well.
A.J. finds Kirby after the cat makes enough noise in the attic.
"Kirby, Kirby, Kirby, I found you! I found you," A.J. yells.
Who said businesspeople have no heart.
Lots can come of relationships formed at the gym or on the court.
Take Joseph McDonnell and former LILCO chief executive Bill Catacosinos. McDonnell was once Catacosinos' tennis instructor and later became LILCO's chief spokesman. McDonnell and Catacosinos made a few dollars when the state took over the utility in the late '90s.
Marc Spector and David Gise are hoping the same happens for them.
A decade ago, Gise was a personal trainer at a Greenvale gym to Spector, now principal of the architectural firm The Spector Group in Woodbury. A few months ago, they launched OpenOfficeSpace
.com, a Web site they hope will please those looking for office space or trying to sell it. It is certain to displease commercial real estate brokers because it cuts them out.
The site offers companies the chance to post their available office space, and it offers small businesses the opportunity to find space at no cost.
"We've spent a lot of time developing a guide [on the site] for people looking for space for the first time," Gise said.
Spector said the two plan to add more features, and to make money by charging content providers - such as furniture stores - a fee.
Martin Lomazow, senior vice president at the CB Richard Ellis brokerage in Woodbury, offered a different view: "I salute [Spector and Gise] for creativity, and if you're a small tenant, there could be value for you. But business executives in corporate American don't do business like that."
