Still, the Billable Hour Refuses to Die

What five questions does the managing partner of Arnold & Porter think his corporate clients should ask about the firm—but none ever has? 

How are associates and partners compensated, for starters.  And if associate bonuses are a function of billable hours, you will not want to hear that "linking associate compensation directly and predictably to hours billed exacerbates the misalignment with client interests inherent in all billing by the hour."

The good news is that your investment in knowledge management is something your clients truly ought to appreciate (assuming lawyers actually use it).

Turn these observations into a thought experiment about pricing your services. If KM represents "value to client," and the billable hour represents "cost of production," wouldn't you prefer to base your fees on value-received rather than tonnage of inputs?

But we've had this debate before