Legal Services Pricing - Profitability & Cash Flow for Financial Success

Introduction

Law firms often think they are the only ones suffering the myriad of issues around time recording, realisation, billing and recovery, yet any frank conversation between firms would soon reveal these are evergreen, grass-root problems, with consequential symptoms of variable realisation rates, write-offs, aged debt, cash-flow, demotivated fee-earners and unhappy clients.

Your speaker, Richard Allen, has over 40 years experience as a fee-earner, partner, costs lawyer and legal services pricing consultant. For Richard, these problems are all too common.

This seminar will tackle all these issues head-on by addressing best practice with hourly rate charging, setting and maximising hourly rates, plus time recording and billing. A focus on the common weaknesses of fee-earners in undervaluing themselves and having too much empathy for clients will demonstrate how to redress the balance.

Richard will also examine the elephant in the room - Value pricing and alternative fee options. These are the antidote to most of the issues firms experience and is simply the recipe for greater profitability, increased cash-flow and happier clients. The concept of price risk and value alignment are central to understand what a client wants. Also, the considerable gains that can be achieved through value pricing, the use of behavioural economic principles and ‘price packaging’ will be a revelation.

Aimed at those who want to take advantage of a practically based session, this seminar will be interactive and hands-on, benefiting partners, team leaders and line managers, as well as individual fee earners and finance teams.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• The professional firm model - what it traditionally looks like, how is it working for you and how to maximise the benefits
• Your approach to hourly rates and how to truly make the most of the billable hour
• Time recording, capture and realisation rates - best practice
• Why we have write-offs and how to avoid these in the future
• Avoiding future problems by correctly documenting arrangements with your client
• Your pricing policy, the approach to setting a price and alternative pricing models
• Understanding the concept and massive advantages of value pricing
• Exploring price risk and the art of fixed fees for profit
• Why professionals undervalue themselves and how to gain pricing confidence
• The no-brainer approach to price presentation and the art of price packaging
• Applying behavioural economics to professional services pricing - the top 10 tactics
• The advantages of payment options
• How to improve cash flow and resolve bad debt
• Making the most of management information
• Resourcing, project management and maximising gross profit margin
• Change management effectiveness to establish and build on success
• The impact of AI on legal services and how to price AI work