Thomas Bowden, the Timeless Counsel, has 40 years of legal experience was an early adopter of subscription pricing for legal services. Thomas moved away from billable hours early in his career and has been using alternative fee arrangements like flat fees for over a decade. He finds that certainty of pricing is valuable for clients, and month-to-month flexibility builds confidence that he will provide value to keep clients subscribed. Thomas emphasizes being proactive in providing value rather than waiting for clients to call with issues.
Thomas discusses how he prices his services not based on hourly estimates but on the value provided. He aims to avoid surprises and scope creep with clients by defining the work upfront. Thomas highlights the importance of technology like contract lifecycle management platforms and AI tools to increase efficiency and deliver more value at flat fees rather than hourly billing. He focuses on plain language contracting and using formulas where possible.
Overall, Thomas provides an example that experienced attorneys can successfully transition away from billable hours. He has refined his alternative fee pricing approach over many years. Thomas emphasizes that providing proactive value, pricing for value delivered, and utilizing technology is key to making non-hourly billing work well. His experience shows longtime practitioners can adopt new models like subscription pricing.
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