Is it okay to charge some clients less than others? Why yes it is, thanks for asking. Here are some situations where you might want to do that:
- New clients, to encourage them to sign up with you instead of another lawyer
- Returning clients, to encourage them to come back or to hire you for something else
- Old clients who have been with you a long time, to reward them for their loyalty
- Bigger clients, who give you more work or bigger matters
- Clients who are easier to work with, pay on time, never complain
- Clients who send you lots of referrals or who go out of their way to promote you
- Clients who do something you support, as a way to help their cause
- Clients who give you a big retainer up front, especially if it is non-refundable
- Clients referred to you by some of your better clients or referral sources
- Clients who are family or friends (yeah, sometimes you gotta)
In fact, sometimes it makes sense to give some clients free services, but that’s a subject for another day.
Be careful, though. You don’t want your other clients to find out that some clients pay less than they do. Unless you do want them to know. If you want all of your clients to know they’ll pay less if they always pay on time, for example, then spread the word.
Another way to look at this subject is to charge more for clients who aren’t on this list. If they are slow-payers, for example, they pay a higher rate.
The point is, you don’t have to charge every client the same amount for the same work (unless there’s a law or a bar rule that says you do, in which case you should think about moving).
Go through your billing records and client list and see who might warrant a lower or higher fee.
The lawyer’s guide to stress-free billing and collection
