Alternative Billing Software

There has been plenty of talk lately concerning clients' and counsels' desire for alternative billing arrangements, but not a whole lot of discussion regarding the mechanisms by which to calculate potential new billing numbers.

The American Lawyer recently profiled a couple new software programs that will be rolling out soon, both aimed at helping attorneys formulate and track alternative billing options.

Washington, D.C.-based Crowell & Moring, which accounted for more than 30% of their revenue last year from alternative billing, will begin working this month with a program that will provide an automated process to craft alternative fee proposals for clients.

American Lawyer describes the process:

"... A partner who wants to take on an alternative fee matter inputs information -- such as matter type, expected duration, and distribution of work -- online. The information is routed to the finance department for modeling into an alternative fee proposal, then on to the finance committee for approval, and back to the lawyer without the need for a meeting, telephone call, or e-mail.

Crowell's new alternative billing program, which is integrated into the firm's matter management computer system, allows lawyers to select specific alternative fee arrangements such as flat fees and holdbacks that the client has expressed an interest in pursuing. And for lawyers who aren't at that point in the process, the program can make alternative fee suggestions based on client priorities such as leverage, fee predictability, and risk sharing. If the new matter involves a pre-existing client, an attorney will be able to access information about current alternative fee arrangements."

Another firm that will begin testing alternative billing software is Winston & Strawn, who also reported more than 30% of last year's revenue from alternative billing arrangements.

Winston & Strawn's software, though, is geared to monitoring the costs of alternative billing by installing a "dashboard" on each partner's computer that provides daily budgetary updates on alternative fee matters.

On the surface, these developments portend increased exploration of alternative billing.

Because, as the technology evolves, it will support the growth of alternative billing by taking the guesswork out of fee arrangements, thus elimination risk and resistance from attorneys.