TOOLKIT: C&I to offer advice on alternative charging methods


In-house counsel are to be encouraged to use billing methods that might see them gradually move away from paying panel solicitors by the hour, Bill Graydon, operations director at the Commerce and Industry (C&I) Group, has told the Gazette.



Graydon said the C&I group - the association of UK in-house solicitors - will provide advice on implementing alternative billing methods, including fixed fees and payment by results, in its upcoming C&I fee-billing toolkit, which is expected to be released at the end of 2008.



The C&I's Stop the Clock study into costs and fees last year uncovered general dissatisfaction among in-house solicitors with the hourly fees model. It found 94% of in-house solicitors were unhappy about hourly billing.



'[The toolkit] is going to be a serious document, and we have brought in some serious people to draft it', Graydon said.



The news came as a survey of in-house lawyers - commissioned by City firm Lovells - suggested that UK firms have become embroiled in an increasing number of disputes over the last 12 months.



Half of UK respondents said their company had been involved with more disputes. Across Europe, a quarter of respondents said litigation was the biggest drain on time compared with other areas of work.



Almost a third of respondents identified the US as the most challenging legal jurisdiction when it came to managing a multinational dispute.



The survey was carried out by research company Lighthouse. A total of 180 in-house counsel from various sectors were quizzed from a sample of the largest companies in France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK.



James Dean