Small Firms Use Flat Fees to Gain Edge

Whirlpool Corp. faces myriad business risks and uncertainties in its $18 billion global appliance business, but its legal bills from midsize Michigan law firm Warner Norcross & Judd aren't one of those unknown variables. That's because Whirlpool tapped Warner Norcross as its North American business litigation firm this fall, with plans of setting up flat-fee billing for court fights and related tasks such as creating bulletproof contracts for Whirlpool. If Whirlpool needs a contract to cover a $1 million deal and it pays its law firm $20,000 to craft the contract, the company shouldn't care whether the firm spent 10 hours or 100 hours to draft the document, said David Grumbine, a Whirlpool senior counsel in the dispute resolution group.

Small Firms Use Flat Fees to Gain Edge law.com Thu, Nov 15, 2007