Thursday, November 30, 2023

IF I WERE HOUSE COUNSEL, TO PICK OUTSIDE COUNSEL, I WOULD . . .

 

  1. Pick the most experienced lawyer specializing exclusively in the field and require him or her to be the only lawyer working on your case. Shop elsewhere if they hesitate to accept this arrangement enthusiastically.
  2. Draft a contract that prohibits paying for any other person without your prior approval;
  3. In that contract, prohibit paying for any item expense other than your attorney's hourly rate.
  4. Negotiate the rate. It is not dictated by law. So negotiate.
  5. Describe the scope of work.
  6. Negotiate a not to exceed the ceiling for the total fee you will pay for the project. 
  7. Instruct your lawyer to use AI and absorb the cost as part of his overhead. This may need to be reversed once pricing matures. It may be more cost effective for the client to absorb the price rather than see hourly rates increase just for using AI.
  8. Your attorney must carefully manage the AI results just as they would an associate or paralegal.
  9. If the matter goes to trial, administrative hearing, ADR, or the like, negotiate adding lawyers and paralegals as required.
  10. Require weekly or monthly reports on substantive and procedural progress on the case.
It's a new age in managing your lawyer. Competition is keen. AI now puts the solo practitioner on equal footing with prominent firm lawyers with comparable experience. Pick the experience and take advantage of AI. Learn AI as an incredible tool that eliminates and improves on any other assistance at the attorney's disposal.

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