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Recent Study Highlights Extreme Disparities in Billing Rates between Large and Small Corporate Law Firms

Posted on May 29, 2014 11:55am PDT

A recent report jointly created by Law360 and BTI Consulting Group Inc. analyzes how the biggest U.S. law firms are commanding billing rates that are astoundingly higher than their smaller counterparts. Law360 and BTI collected information for the report through a survey conducted in January and February 2014 of roughly 1,100 law firm attorneys and corporate counsel.

The study shows how the largest firms are charging an average rate that is 54.3 percent higher than what lawyers at small firms charge. The average senior partner rate at large firms, with 400 lawyers or more, was $725 per hour while at smaller firms, with fewer than 150 lawyers, was $445 an hour, according to the survey.

The rate advantage for large firms held true across senior partner, partner and associate rates, as well as across six major practice areas, the report said. The biggest rate advantage for the largest firms was among senior mergers and acquisitions attorneys and transaction lawyers at the biggest firms, who command on average $829 an hour, according to the report.

Corporate counsel reported paying senior partners across all firms an average of $655 an hour — nearly 30 percent more than the $461 rate for partners, and the average per-hour rate for associates was $327, according to the survey.

This data supports Lev Berlin & Sousa's value proposition – as a boutique corporate law firm, we can provide our clients with consummate experience and service at lower costs.
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