Ron Baker, who has been described as “an amazing visionary” by Matt Homann, responded this morning to my piece “ethics aside”, where I caution lawyers against blindly adopting Baker’s notion of “value billing.” Ron, who complains that “The problem with these blogs is they are a mile wide and half-inch deep,” wants me to “commit some serious intellectual capital to this debate,” by reading his [$149.00] book. Well, I decided to respond right away, any way, and at some length. You can read the entire thread — the original post, Ron’s Comment, etc. — by clicking here, and you’re encouraged to add your comments.
Here’s a key excerpt from my response to Mr. Baker
I continue to believe, however, that clients want alternative billing methods in order to have lower overall fees, not because they believe their lawyer is worth more than his or her hourly fee.
p.s. Thanks go out to Ron Coleman of Likelihood of Confusion for including the post “ethics aside” in Blawg Review #2 yesterday. Ron even tried his hand at writing haiku, proving — on Clarence Darrow’s birthday — Darrow’s adage that “Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet.”
this world today–
for one chrysanthemum
a gold coin
spring rain–
in the window they haggle
over fish
spring rain–
in the wife’s sleeve
coins jingle– by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue