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A few days ago I saw a client with a fascinating legal problem. The case was on course for a 2 day hearing and the issues involved were complex. When she telephone I said I would see her for 30 minutes for free. As it happened I ended up seeing her for nearly 2 hrs and I only billed her for one hour. Later that evening she e-mailed me with a request for further advice but with a caveat that she did not want me to charge for that advice. The next day she telephoned me and wanted me to draft 2 highly complex documents - a Scott Schedule and a Statement of case which she estimated would take me about 5minutes of my time. I suggested she might be better off seeing a more junior fee earner who had a rather lower hourly charging rate. "is he as good as you?" she responded." No" I said. He has 6 years experience and I have 40. That's why his hourly charging rate is different to mine.
Clients are very difficult to please. I have been doing my best for 40 years but it is not easy. There is a tension between charging fees and delivering an end product which the client finds satisfactory and that is no mean feat to bring off successfully.