What this means to you

No Hourly Billing - Answering the pleas from industry leaders for something better than billing by the hour, Scholefield has implemented a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) program. This program is based on recommendations from clients, independent research, and interviews with other law firms that have implemented similar programs. You have no hourly bills or surprise charges for anything. We don't track the time spent working for you, we do track the tasks that have been accomplished and those that are still waiting to be completed. You have unlimited access to our attorneys and staff, either by phone, email or even office visits. There are no petty charges for 5 minute phone calls or faxes. You can call as often as necessary to discuss any aspect of your case without the fear of being charged for our time.

The GMP program is modeled after the construction process of estimating and submitting a fixed price for a project, and then delivering a finished product at that guaranteed price. Complete with a litigation schedule with tasks and phases (equivalent to a project schedule with milestones) and a familiar looking schedule of values. It is as simple as that. However, just as with any construction project, there are provisions for unanticipated events which could result in change orders, but the total costs of the project are known prior to signing an agreement for the work.

How we do it - This program applies to complex litigation as well as transactional matters. but budgeting for a litigation matter is more complicated. At Scholefield, we limit our practice to construction law and we thoroughly know our way around construction problems. We are depending our knowledge and experience to be able to deliver quality legal representation on time and within budget. If for some reason, we do not stay within our budget price, we absorb the additional costs, not you. That is our penalty for either being inefficient or being poor estimators. We are sharing the risk.

For litigation -

(A) Initially, we consult with a client, review documents and get an understanding of the nature of the dispute. We can expect this to take several hours to a few days, depending on the volume of material or the complexity of the matter that has to be reviewed.

(B) We then prepare a detailed proposal which includes a total cost, an estimated time-line in gantt format, and a schedule of values for progress payments. In addition, we will list the expected legal events that are included and possible additional cost items that are beyond our scope or control.

(C) When you receive your price quotation, explanation of the quote and a detailed estimate for the scope of work, you can decide what your next move will be, or whether you even want to use the services of our firm. We do not charge clients for any of the work expended in preparing this quotation.

The Advantages of a GMP contract
Because you have a guaranteed maximum price quotation, you know:

(A) what your monthly legal costs will be, you can budget for the litigation. This can be extremely helpful in strategizing for settlement, understanding the total impact of pursuing a lawsuit, ormaking wise business decisions without spending legal fees to find out.

(B) Can freely discuss your case with your attorney without concerns about increasing costs.

(C) Know exactly what it going on during the litigation process with a litigation schedule.

(D) You will also know the exact cost of any additional tasks. These are equivalent to a construction change order.

Important information for in-house counsel - You can pick and choose what tasks you want to self-perform and what you would like us to handle. We are flexible and are more than willing to accomodate your specific needs. This will help you keep your costs down while at the same time allow you to have highly specialized legal help on-demand only when you need it.

For transactional matters - Again, a no cost/no obligation quote for the proposed work will be provided prior to getting started. Typically the transactional work will not be drawn out over several months like litigation is, so a time schedule or a schedule of values will probably not be needed.

For example: A common transactional request is for contract review. Depending on the size of the contract (both dollar value and scope of work), a fixed price will be quoted. This is for reviewing the contract, including comments and a meeting to go over the contract terms. More extensive requests would include drafting and incorporating the proposed changes into a contract, developing a custom contract for a client's specific needs, or negotiating the terms and conditions with the other party. For further support, Scholefield could be available during the execution of the contract to assure that the contract is followed and that notices and completion and close out are done properly.

Search Our site for specific information