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Off the Clock: Understanding the Billable Hour From a Lawyer Who Abandoned It
Manage episode 508408024 series 3583202
The billable hour has been the dominant pricing model in legal practice for decades, but it wasn't always this way—and it was never meant to be permanent.
What started as an accountability measurement has evolved into a system that stifles new thinking about client value and often works against the client's interests and the attorney's well-being.
Well-known in legal circles, Christopher T. Anderson has been leading the charge to disrupt the billable hour. He's a named partner with Anderson Dodson, P.C., the founding consultant of Sunnyside Services, the entrepreneurial mind behind New Leaf Family, and the longstanding host of The Unbillable Hour Podcast. Christopher brings a unique perspective shaped by his background in astrophysics, government studies, and years in legal information and the practice of law. His law firms are testing grounds for innovative approaches that prioritize value over time.
In this episode, Christopher talks with John Reed about the history of legal billing from its origins as an explanatory narrative to today's time-tracking obsession. Listen in as he explains how the billable hour disincentivizes efficiency and how New Leaf's alternative model seeks to efficiently and cost-appropriately solve clients' problems while creating more fulfilling careers for attorneys.
Chapters
1. Off the Clock: Understanding the Billable Hour From a Lawyer Who Abandoned It (00:00:00)
2. The history of the billable hour and how it was not meant to be permanent. (00:02:08)
3. How the billable hour incentivizes the wrong behaviors. (00:07:22)
4. The mental health impact of billable hour pressure on attorneys. (00:13:03)
5. AI and other efficiencies are challenging traditional billing models. (00:16:42)
6. Christopher's unusual path from astrophysics to law to software and back. (00:20:29)
7. Applying the scientific method and other frameworks to the practice of law. (00:23:56)
8. Using law firms as crucibles to test innovative approaches. (00:26:05)
9. How value-billing models expand access to justice. (00:28:35)
10. Christopher's love of problem-solving. (00:33:42)
11. The evolution of The Unbillable Hour Podcast. (00:40:19)
12. Expanding the New Leaf law firm model. (00:42:06)
53 episodes
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