End of the billable hour?
Most corporate legal work is based on a business model of the billable hour. This model creates huge incentive problems for clients and attorneys. The client wants to minimize hours and the attorney wants to maximize hours. The billable hour model also creates incentive problems inside law firms as attorneys may hoard work that they should delegate.
Perhaps one of the biggest law firms can influence a shift in this model. In a recent interview with Business Week, Evan Chesler, the managing partner of Cravath, Swain & Moore talks about how to make the billable hour "irrelevant".
