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Home & Family: Work & Family Mailbox
[Columnist Sue Shellenbarger answers readers' questions]
Q: Your column on career dissatisfaction among lawyers mentioned finding alternatives to hourly billing. Can you suggest some resources on this topic? -- S.C., Phoenix
A: One common alternative-fee setup is to charge a flat fee for a specified service, such as $350 to prepare a will or $1,800 to set up a trust, says Mark Robertson, an Oklahoma City attorney and co-editor of an American Bar Association book on the topic. If a client or case requires an unusually large amount of time, lawyers may tack on additional hourly fees.
Another option is to charge a percentage fee; that is, in return for administering an estate, an attorney might charge a percentage of the estate's value, Mr. Robertson says. In other cases, lawyers give clients a choice between an hourly rate, or a fixed fee coupled with a "success fee" if a deal closes; this can work well for such transactions as a stock offering, Mr. Robertson says. Of course, contingency fees are widely used too, with an attorney collecting a percentage of awards received by clients in personal-injury or other damage suits.
Use of alternative billing methods is growing, but mostly in small and medium-sized firms, Mr. Robertson says. A third edition of a book co-edited by Mr. Robertson, "Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour," is due out in April; the second edition is available at www.ababooks.org or other booksellers' Web sites. Further resources can be found on the bar association's Web site, www.abanet.org, by clicking on "billable hours" on the "Topics A-Z" index, then on "On- line Toolkit," a link that includes information about alternative fee strategies.
Q: You recently recommended books for a parent of three boys under 10. Can you offer some suggestions for me, as a father of three girls under 10?
-- D.B., Charlottesville, Va.
A: Take a look at "Dads and Daughters: How to Inspire, Understand and Support Your Daughter," by Joe Kelly, co-founder of an advocacy group for fathers and daughters. Physician Meg Meeker presents another perspective in "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters."
For either parent, "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls," co-authored by therapist Mary Pipher and first published in 1994, still offers valuable insight into the psychology of girls. Educator Rosalind Wiseman offers a savvy overview of teen behavior in "Queen Bees and Wannabes." For a detailed and slightly darker look at pop teen-girl culture, see "Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls," by journalist Rachel Simmons.
For mothers and daughters, Elizabeth Alderman, clinical professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Children's Hospital at Montefiore, New York, suggests "Girl in the Mirror: Mothers and Daughters in the Years of Adolescence," co-authored by surgeon- journalist Nancy Snyderman and Peg Streep.
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