Law Firms Turn To Pricing Officers In Lean Times

Alternative billing methods that shift risk from client to provider are making it difficult for law firms to maintain to make a profit. Hiring a pricing officer is one way firms are coping. A pricing officer costs out projects, and determines what resources and level of expertise are required, while ensuring profitability for the firm. The practice originated after the 2008 bust, when firms that had been able to increase prices by up to eight per cent per year began getting some vigorous pushback from clients because executives of large corporations identified their legal departments as cost centers from which savings could be squeezed.