Hi there,
If you’re relatively new here, you might be wondering:
âť“What is PERSUIT?
🤺 What’s with this Kill Bill(able) Hours thing?
🤔 What does a movie about a machete-wielding blonde in a yellow jumpsuit have anything to do with legal tech?
(It doesn’t, actually. But hey, it’s catchy, isn’t it?)
Let me take a moment to re-introduce myself and the company where I am privileged to serve as founder and CEO — PERSUIT.
I’m Jim.
I’ll spare you the gory details about my journey from being the first in my family to walk the halls of legal.
In short…
I used to be a managing partner at one of the largest firms in the world.
But in 2016, I left that behind to start a legal technology business — PERSUIT!
What is PERSUIT?
PERSUIT is a legal tech platform that fundamentally changes how in-house legal teams engage outside counsel.
Our platform provides firms and counsels with a radically new level of transparency around legal sourcing — mostly by empowering teams to adopt alternative fee arrangements (which, for the record, are not a “four-letter-word” for firms).
The upside for clients is that they gain price predictability, better value for their legal spend, and are more empowered to drive diversity objectives.
The upside for firms is that they gain new insights into the true market price for legal services — which lets them provide more value, better outcomes, and improve their long-term relationships with client partners.
Why do we call this the Kill Bill(able Hours) Newsletter?
It’s a controversial opinion, but to be frank, my view, and most everyone at PERSUIT’s (it’s an unofficial condition of employment), is that the billable hour is a hidden cause for many of the problems in our industry.
The legal profession suffers from incredibly high rates of mental health disorders and burnout, a dearth of diversity, and a terrible reputation (hear any bad lawyer jokes lately?).
I say that as a former BigLaw partner, someone who benefited greatly over the years from the billable hours business model used by most firms.
But just like many a good hero/villain narrative, it’s never too late to see the light and change course.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I’ve been on both sides of the controversy, so I can certainly speak to it.
I hope you’ll decide to join me in this important conversation around killing the billable hour.
I love hearing from those who take the time to read my ramblings.
And if you have ideas for future newsletter topics, I’d love to know.
Cheers,
