Corporate Legal Times: Bickel & Brewer Bets Its Future on Flat Fees; Firm’s Structure Reflects Its Philosophy

March 31, 1992 — Dallas-based Bickel & Brewer is phasing out hourly billing in favor of flat fee arrangements for corporate and commercial litigation. Founding partners John W. Bickel II and William A. Brewer III explained that the firm structures fees around client litigation history and projected outcomes, with performance-based premiums if results exceed expectations. Brewer emphasized that the model rewards efficiency and outcomes rather than hours, calling traditional billing a "spectacular inefficiency." To support this approach, the firm employs a 15-member Litigation Consulting Group of non-legal professionals, including accountants, MBAs, and engineers, to handle early phases of litigation at lower cost. The firm’s client roster includes Paine Webber, Motorola, ITT Consumer Financial Corp., Fruit of the Loom, and the Dallas Cowboys.

"It’s been win-win for everybody who’s tried it," says William A. Brewer III. "…General counsel doesn’t have to stand around analyzing bills, trying to figure out who spent one/fifth of an hour too long composing a letter.