Attorney inefficiencies can raise client costs.

• Author: Ladd, Scott
• Position: LEGAL ISSUES - Brief article

When it comes to cost, attorneys don't have a reputation for coming cheap. But how does a corporate (or individual) client determine if legal charges are too low, too high or just about right? Attorney Patrick Lamb of the Valorem Law Group, a litigation firm in Chicago, suggests ways that lawyers can waste client money and how clients can measure it.

* Filing needless motions. To file a motion, it has to be written and filed. There is often also some lengthy brief prepared, and then at least one, and frequently two, court appearances. All too often, these motions serve no strategic or tactical purpose and have little impact on the case.

* Too many hands on deck. Why do some firms send two lawyers to court or attend depositions? Does it make sense to have younger lawyers draft a document that is almost entirely redrafted by a more senior one? These work process inefficiencies can be easily avoided, but attorneys aren't trained to consider process efficiencies.

* Every stone doesn't need to be picked up and examined. Cases turn on...