Posted by Bruce Carton: "I've seen a couple of legal blog posts lately that discuss invoices for legal services, and some creative (although arguably unlikely) ways in which that practice might evolve for lawyers. A post on Lawyerist.com last week suggests that lawyers who are having trouble collecting from clients might want to introduce some "emotion" into their invoices.
For instance, Lawyerist writes, a lawyer might "paperclip a picture of your daughter's soccer championship, or you and your spouse volunteering at a local event. Or maybe even include a personal photo as part of your invoice." Doing so, Lawyerist adds, may help humanize the lawyer sending the bill and possibly bump that invoice to the top of the to-be-paid pile.
Earlier this year, Matt Homann of the [non]billable hour blog wrote here that he uses a novel, "You Decide Invoice" in his legal consulting practice that he believes lawyers might want to experiment with. On his invoice, it states that:
The rules are simple: you pay us what you feel we were worth to you. You decide, no questions asked. The only rule? We want to know why you paid what you did, and how we could have done better.
At that time, Homann wrote, he had always received at least as much as he expected to receive, and usually more than he would have charged if he had established the price up front.
Are any lawyers out there using non-traditional invoices in their practices? How has it worked?"
The active links are available at the source site listed below.
Source: Legal Blog Watch, 3 November 2009
