LPM Tip

Never work for cheap

"Work for free
or for full price.
Never work for cheap."

A large part of administrative costs in law firms is devoted to tracking billables, securing and account for retainers, chasing after late account receivables and calculating how much to charge which client. I've avoided all this overhead of time and money by charging simply a fixed price for each client and having them pay up front―all of it.

I never negotiate my fee down because when you show your clients that you can work for cheap, then what you're telling them is that your original price was unreasonable―that you can't be trusted the first time. You're also telling them that they shouldn't value your work as much because you don't value your work as much.

Do lots of pro bono work and do even more full price work. But never work for anything in between.

This tip is courtesy of Gabriel Cheong, attorney at law, owner of Infinity Law Group.

Published November 19, 2009

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