Embracing Alternative Billing Methods | Culture Shock: At the Law Offices of Christopher Gipe, we wanted to create a culture and environment that facilitated and encouraged communication with our clients. I know that seems intuitive and natural, but to be honest that isn't the way that most law firms operate.
Most law firms are designed in a way that have as little client interaction as possible. These firms hope that after you have signed a retainer agreement you will leave them alone and wait while they work. Often times these firms leave it up to the client to get in contact with the office for routine status updates, which are few and far between. These firms usually have limited options to get in contact with them and usually consists of telephone, traditional letter, or maybe email. Other, more modern, forms of communication like Skype, Facebook Messenger, and text message are essentially non-existent in the industry. In case that wasn't enticing enough, there is the added benefit of knowing that once you are able to get in contact with your attorney they are billing you in 6 minute increments at $400 per hour (or more). I hope you picked up on my sarcasm there.
This practice model no longer works for today's society. We have come to expect more. That is why we have done away with the traditional hourly billing model! It has only built up barriers between lawyers and their clients and we want to tear those down. Communication and client service are of the upmost importance to our firm and we can't expect our clients to communicate with us when we are charging them $100 for 15 minutes of our time. Ultimately, this lack of communication leads to bad customer service, which is unacceptable when it is completely preventable.
Instead of the outdated hourly billing model used by the overwhelming majority of the industry, we have embraced all forms of alternative billing methods! We have fixed fees for all of our services and offer subscriptions to existing clients so that they can continue to work with us in a cost-effective economical manner. Our clients know exactly what they are going to pay before we sign any documents. By freeing ourselves from hourly billing our clients can call and communicate with us as often as then would like, or as little as they would like. The point is that they now have the power to choose without knowing they are going to get a bill for it later.
You can learn about some of our services below, but if you would like some more information please contact us today by clicking here.