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Bailey Brauer’s Alex Brauer quoted on Alternative Fee Agreements in The Texas Lawbook

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,

February 21st, 2014|Categories: Interview, News|

Dallas Trial Lawyer Clayton Bailey Recognized as Client Service All-Star

DALLAS – Attorney Clayton Bailey, co-founder of the Dallas complex commercial litigation and appellate boutique Bailey Brauer PLLC, has been recognized as a Client Service All-Star by The BTI Consulting Group of Wellesley, Mass. Mr. Bailey is one of only 330 attorneys nationwide to be recognized as a Client Service All-Star based on independent interviews with corporate counsel. “This elite group of standout attorneys – identified solely through unprompted client feedback – are recognized as delivering the absolute best client service,” BTI wrote in the Client Service All-Star executive summary. “No attorney can lobby to be added to the list, self-submit nominations or provide corporate counsel names to be interviewed. The only way to become a BTI Client Service All-Star is for corporate counsel to single out an attorney for a client service performance exceeding all others.” Mr. Bailey, who has extensive trial and appellate experience in complex litigation matters nationwide, was nominated by corporate counsel at a “Global 500” food processing company, according to BTI. “This is an incredible honor,” Mr. Bailey says. “Bailey Brauer’s legal team strives every day to deliver exceptional service and positive results to our clients, so it’s gratifying when our work is recognized by the people who are the main reason we come to work every day. This recognition proves what my law partner, Alex Brauer, and I said when we opened Bailey Brauer last year: Our clients can receive big-firm results and big-firm service in a more nimble and cost-effective small-firm environment.” In addition to his recognition by BTI, Mr. Bailey also has been named a Future Rising Star in Texas in the 2012 and 2013 editions of Benchmark Litigation, and as a Texas Local Litigation Star in

February 5th, 2014|Categories: News, Press Release|