Houston partners Drew Tipton and Ray Whitman, Chair of the firm's national Litigation Group, were quoted in the April 17, 2009, edition of the Houston Business Journal's "Law Magazine" in the article, "Firms Take Financial Sting Out of Litigation."
According to the article, with companies looking at cutting costs, the legal budget is among expenditures that often ends up on the "chopping block." Tipton and Whitman were asked to provide advice on keeping legal costs—especially litigation expenses—in check.
"Although clients are clearly looking to minimize costs, including fees and expenses, they are also looking for ways to avoid surprises, such as dramatic fluctuations in their fees and expenses on a month to month basis," according to Tipton and Whitman. "While legal fees necessarily fluctuate because of issues beyond your control, there are steps and processes that may be put in place to help mitigate these effects."
Tipton and Whitman go on to advise that law firms, when dealing with document-intensive cases and transactions, should be creative in mitigating the costs of copying and reproducing documents. They suggest entering into global contracts with trusted scanning and electronic discovery houses in order to leverage volume and take advantage of economies of scale.
Tipton and Whitman also suggest the use of client "web portals" as a cost-effective way to provide savings and efficiency. These portals, a secure web site that the client and legal team can access, allow both sides to review any material which has been uploaded—substantially reducing the amount of copies needed, as well as reducing the multitude of phone calls, emails and status reports that would otherwise be generated to keep everyone up-to-date on the case.
Finally, Tipton and Whitman suggest working with clients to provide a flat fee for certain types of work that are conducive to such arrangements, or using blended rates—where the same rate is charged for any attorney working on the file—when appropriate.