{"id":4394,"date":"2006-02-20T19:32:03","date_gmt":"2006-02-20T23:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/02\/20\/dead-presidents-value-billing"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:09","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:09","slug":"dead-presidents-value-billing-ethics-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/02\/20\/dead-presidents-value-billing-ethics-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"dead presidents, value billing, ethics and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Presidents’ Day shouldn’t pass us by without our annual nod to <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the lawyer Abraham Lincoln.  Two years ago, your Editor, in the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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post Fees and the Lawyer-Fiduciary<\/FONT><\/A>, said:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"time<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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I wonder how Abe Lincoln, Esq. would have defined the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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fiduciary duties of a lawyer when setting fees.  I’m afraid <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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that many lawyers never consider fiduciary principles in <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the context of fees.  That oversight goes a long way toward <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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explaining how the legal profession managed to squander <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the goodwill that was its legacy from honest Abraham <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Lincoln.   <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Similarly, we wonder how Lincoln would react to what we’ve called <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the <\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT>“ethics aside”<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> approach<\/EM> of the gurus and cheerleaders of law firm <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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branding, marketing and alternative or value pricing.  By equating the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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legal profession with the making of widgets for marketing and pricing <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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purposes, and insisting that we have “<\/FONT>customers, not clients<\/FONT><\/A>,” they <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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seem to forget the ethical and fiduciary duty lawyers have to fully inform <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the client <\/FONT>and to look out first for the client’s interests.  <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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                                                                                          \"FiveDollarBill\"<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Lawyer Lincoln, please <\/FONT><\/FONT>take a look at <\/FONT>ron baker & price sensitivity<\/FONT><\/A> and let <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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us <\/FONT>know what you <\/FONT>think about lawyers who exploit the psychology of pricing, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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leverage <\/FONT>premium <\/FONT>prices at the client’s most price insensitive moments, and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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(after <\/FONT>touting <\/FONT>the glories of up-front pricing) manipulate Change Orders to <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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achieve <\/FONT>ever-higher “value pricing.”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“An exhorbitant fee should never be claimed<\/EM>.”
                                          Abraham Lincoln, <\/FONT>1850<\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"topHatAbe\"  <\/FONT>Weblogging lawyers, and those considering starting a weblog, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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might want to consider the following quote <\/FONT>from Abe Lincoln, taken from his <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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1850 <\/FONT>Notes for a Law Lecture<\/FONT><\/A>.  To modernize it, substitute “frequent weblog-<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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ging,” for “extemporaneous speaking:”  <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cannot make a speech. And yet there is not a more fatal error to <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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young lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"tiny Find more at this website about Abraham Lincoln’s <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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approach to lawyering, <\/FONT>in the following posts:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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– <\/FONT>A Lincolnesque Law Practice? <\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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– <\/FONT>Lawyer Lincoln Was a Bargain<\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV>
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– <\/FONT>ATLA & Lincoln & tort reform<\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"GWg\"  We haven’t forgotten about you, George Washington.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Thanks for showing our nation that integrity and honesty can <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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go <\/FONT>hand-in-hand with power.  Presidents who tell the truth. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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What a concept!<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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a money-making
temple…
the peonies in bloom<\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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the great lord
forced off his horse…
cherry blossoms

<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Issa<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A>,<\/FONT> <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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translated by <\/FONT><\/EM>David G. Lanoue<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A><\/DIV>
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.  <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                                                                                                                 \"OneDollarBillN\"<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“snowflakeSN”  Honest, we know it’s winter, but it’s also <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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time for some Barry George<\/A> haiku, no matter what the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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season:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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autumn gold-
I dodge fresh clots of dung
along the trail <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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high autumn-
a car’s boom box shakes
the hood <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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a cloud’s shadow
crosses the footbridge-
summer day <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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the dampness of the shortcut home spring pines <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Barry George<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A> – Simply Haiku<\/FONT><\/A><\/EM> (Vol. 3: 4, Winter 2005)<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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\"FiveDollarBillN\"<\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presidents’ Day shouldn’t pass us by without our annual nod to the lawyer Abraham Lincoln.  Two years ago, your Editor, in the post Fees and the Lawyer-Fiduciary, said:   I wonder how Abe Lincoln, Esq. would have defined the fiduciary duties of a lawyer when setting fees.  I’m afraid that many lawyers never consider fiduciary principles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-18S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12769,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394\/revisions\/12769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}