The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog has an interest snippet about Cisco being the leader in “so-called alternative billing” whereby law firms work on a fixed fee, instead of billing companies by the hour.
Judging by the long hours that Cisco’s lawyers Fenwick & West spent drawing up the paperwork for Cisco’s $3.2 billion takeover of WebEx, F&W could’ve made a nice packet if it was billing by the hour – but it wasn’t.
According to the blog, “Cisco now farms out 70% to 75% of its annual legal budget, estimated at $125 million, under fixed-fee arrangements. It mostly uses two firms: Fenwick, for securities and corporate work like the WebEx deal, and Morgan Lewis for litigation.”
What tricks can Cisco customers take from “alternative billing” when they’re next in license negotiations with our favorite networking supplier?
