Today I want to discuss what, I imagine, many readers will thing is a hare-brained idea; and then I want to explain why, if you adopted this idea, your own behavior would change such that it might not end up being hare-brained in the least. Both dimensions of this discussion, I believe, have value, although the second can of course be transposed to an almost infinite variety of contexts. So if the first part (the proposal itself) leaves you cold, focus on the second.

First: The Proposal

The idea is a “Client Value Guarantee,” meaning simply that you would offer some clients a guarantee from your firm that if they feel they haven’t received value from you over the course of a representation, they don’t need to pay your bill as submitted.

Take a breath while I unpack this a bit.

  • “Some clients:” Yes, close readers will have detected a bit of calculated fuzziness in this formulation. Not, by any means, all clients. Not, probably and for example, new clients or episodic clients or clients who have otherwise demonstrated a tangential familiarity with scrupulously fair business practices.Which clients, then? Pretty simply, the opposite of those above: Steady clients of long standing, who have shown appreciation, above and beyond, for what your firm does for them. Clients in your firm’s inner circle, as it were. You know who they are, and who they aren’t.And for extra credit, you could further distill the opportunity set into those clients you plausibly believe might give your firm more work.
  • “A guarantee:” This means one thing but does not mean another thing. It does mean that the judgment whether “value” was received is the client’s and the client’s alone. Don’t argue. (This is an opportunity to invoke the timeless wisdom of Henry Ford 2d, who when arrested for drunk driving, said, “Never complain, never explain;” this even made his NY Times obit.) “Value” is solely in the eyes of the client because that’s what a guarantee means.What the guarantee does not mean is that the client gets their money back in full; here’s your opportunity to have a candid conversation
    with the client about what “value” would have been, why they were disappointed, what you could have done differently: And your opportunity, critically, to ask them how much they are willing to pay given the actual work performed.In other words: If your bill over-stated the “value” of the work in the client’s eyes, what would have been a reasonable and fair bill. $0.00 cannot be the answer (or you know what to do with that client; see bullet #1 above.)

The Chicago firm of Ungaretti & Harris (merged earlier this year into Nixon Peabody) actually offered just such a thing. Here’s how their guarantee read, in haec verba:

We guarantee that as a client of Ungaretti & Harris you will receive cost-effective legal services delivered in a timely manner. We promise to involve you and communicate with you regularly. We cannot guarantee outcomes, but we do guarantee your satisfaction with our service. If Ungaretti & Harris does not perform to your satisfaction, inform us promptly. We will resolve the issue to your satisfaction, even if it means reducing your legal fees.

This has a lot going for it: Plain-spoken, direct, the opposite of legalistic. And also realistic (“we cannot guarantee outcomes”).

Let’s pause at this point, before we proceed to the dynamic implications this has, to consider the bidding among proponents and detractors.

Related Articles

Email Delivery

Get Our Latest Articles Delivered to your inbox +
X

Sign-up for email

Be the first to learn of Adam Smith, Esq. invitation-only events, surveys, and reports.





Get Our Latest Articles Delivered to Your Inbox

Like having coffee with Adam Smith, Esq. in the morning (coffee not included).

Oops, we need this information
Oops, we need this information
Oops, we need this information

Thanks and a hearty virtual handshake from the team at Adam Smith, Esq.; we’re glad you opted to hear from us.

What you can expect from us:

  • an email whenever we publish a new article;
  • respect and affection for our loyal readers. This means we’ll exercise the strictest discretion with your contact info; we will never release it outside our firm under any circumstances, not for love and not for money. And we ourselves will email you about a new article and only about a new article.

Welcome onboard! If you like what you read, tell your friends, and if you don’t, tell us.

PS: You know where to find us so we invite you to make this a two-way conversation; if you have an idea or suggestion for something you’d like us to discuss, drop it in our inbox. No promises that we’ll write about it, but we will faithfully promise to read your thoughts carefully.