By Kerry Curry Special Contributing Writer for The Texas Lawbook February 14, 2014 – It’s been 20 years since Fred Bartlit and Philip Beck turned the typical law firm structure on its head and opened a firm that shunned the billable hour. Today, Bartlit remains revered for championing innovative price structuring in complex, high-stakes litigation, bringing national prominence to a firm that refuses to bill by the hour. But much time has passed, and Bartlit remains the exception, not the rule. While alternative fee arrangements have gained staying power, they show no evidence of overtaking the billable hour. Fred Bartlit “When we started in 1993, we felt we had a five-year window before our competition followed our innovation,” Bartlit said of his Denver/Chicago alternative fee law firm, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP. “We were wrong.” Christopher Catapano, president of Bridgesphere, believes alternative fees have staying power and growth potential. The San Francisco-based consultant focuses on improving law firm financial performance. “Industry acceptance as to whether alternative fee arrangements are here to stay is — in some minds — still up for debate,” he said. “But I think if you look at the legal services industry and compare it to any well-developed industry in the United States, alternative fee arrangements are more than likely here to stay and more than likely a long-term reality that law firms will have to wrestle with.” The reasons are multifaceted. The legal industry has become more commoditized with lower barriers to entry and more standardized pricing, for example. In addition, during the Great Recession, corporations — especially large publically traded companies — took a fine-toothed comb to legal expenses, looking for ways to reduce costs. That scrutiny continues today. In some instances,