News

Louis C. Miller and Francesco A. De Vito, Directors in the Real Estate Department, were quoted in the Boston Business Journal article entitled “Lawyers Jump to Smaller Firms to Charge Lower Rates”, on January 29, 2010.  The article describes the growing trend of partners at large firms moving to smaller firms to better serve their clients.

From the article:

“Facing increasing pressure from clients to discount rates or offer alternative fees, some lawyers have decided to leave altogether for a firm with a lower rate scale.

Indeed, as clients become less willing to accept high hourly billing rates for both partners and associates, smaller firms have become an appealing option for some local lawyers.

That was the case for Louis Miller who, last May, decided to leave Boston-based Choate Hall & Stewart, with 205 lawyers in Boston, for Boston-based Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, which has 50 lawyers. Miller’s hourly rate dropped to $450, down from about $600.

“Nothing against Choate, it’s a wonderful place. But every client I dealt with, from family-owned businesses to public companies, were all concerned about rates. As the economy got worse and worse, not surprisingly they became more and more concerned about rates,” said Miller, a director in the real estate practice.

Moving to a firm that has a lower rate scale, more often means end of year profits will be lower. “The overall number is lower,” said Miller, who would not disclose the amount of the decline.

Miller’s colleague at Rackemann Sawyer — Francesco De Vito, also a director — last month joined the firm after five years in DLA Piper’s Boston office. Globally, DLA Piper has 3,700 lawyers. Moving to Rackemann meant that his rate dropped by one-third.

“People don’t like to overpay when they’re buying something, including legal services,” said De Vito, who practices in the firm’s finance, restructure and workout group.”

For the complete article, please see: http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/02/01/story5.html