Ways Attorneys Waste Money

In order to trim legal bills, attorneys have to look for creative ways to keep overhead low while still en-suring the quality of their work. The author identifies some common practices that inflate attorney costs. Motions, for example, are often unnecessary, serving no strategic purpose and having no effect on the case outcome. Since most attorneys charge by the hour, needless motions increase the bill significantly.

Other practices that can dramatically increase costs include sending two lawyers to court or deposition when one will do, and having young lawyers draft documents that senior attorneys will re-draft. The truth is that two lawyers are seldom necessary.
When looking to cut costs and provide expert legal advice, less is often more. Most cases turn on a very small number of facts and a limited number of documents. The desire to know all that is knowable about a case is understandable, but it’s an indulgence.

Lawyers love to hone their skills by fighting about the order in which things will happen, where meet-ings will occur or what information will be shared. While it’s sometimes crucial to play hardball, often the-se issues are simply not worth the debate.

When that’s the case, the author advises making a deal. No one, he says, likes to appear weak (especial-ly lawyers), but it’s important to remember that smart attorneys settle cases early, before running up costs. They put a client’s interest ahead of their ego.