NO VOLUME DISCOUNT: Companies that spent up to $500K at a particular firm paid an average of $255/hr. But those that spent $5MM-$10MM and had leverage and barganing power... paid almost twice as much--$477/hr.

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY: Associate costs rose 17% between 2007 and 2009. Partner rates rose only 9% in the same time period.

DEFLATION IT AIN'T: 18% of laywers increased their billing rate by more than $100 between 2007 and 2009.

A PRIVILEGED FEW: Somewhere in this country, there is a fourth-year regulator and government associate who bills at nearly $750/hr, and there are two first-year litigation associates who bill at nearly $650/hr.

WHEN THERE'S NO WORK TO DO...: Raise your rates! M&A lawyers raised their rates 19%, to $560/hr, a bigger increase than in any other practice area.

ARE THERE FEWER LAWYERS: Most things that companies buy cost 40% more than they did ten years ago. An hour of legal time costs 65% more, and the average partner charges about $500/hr.

NOUVEAU RICHE: Rates were up 21% in Dallas, Atlanta, and Richmond, while rates in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles climbed at the (relatively) slow pace of only 14%.

GOLD COLLAR: Law firm rates have risen at a pace more than double the increase in white-collar wages.

PARTNER MATERIAL: Two lawyers with 10 years of experience. One is called "partner," one is not. The difference? About $100/hr.

PUSHBACK? WHAT PUSHBACK? In-house counsel approved rate increases for nearly 75% of timekeepers.

THE NEW SOUTH: Rates in the South rose 15%, more than any other region.

AFTER THE FLOOD: New Orleans was the least expensive market measured in the report. Partners in the Big Easy billed $400/hr less than those in New York.

TALK IS CHEAP: 83% of lawyers categorized as inexpensive relative to experience by the report were litigation partners.

EVERYBODY'S DOING IT: 85% of lawyers billed different rates for similar types of work.

BIG FIRM, BIG BILL: The median partner rates at firms with beween 101 and 250 and those with 251 lawyers to 500 lawyers were virtually the same--$00 and $400.62 respectively. But at firms with 501 to 1000 the number ballooned to $595 and at mega-firms with more than 1000 lawyers the median was $645.

HOLD THE DEPOSITIONS: In labor and employment litigation, depositions tended to be the most expensive part of the bill, and expert discovery tended to be the least.

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2010/09/ratecheck-1.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1416753&forum_id=2#15985698)