By Julius Melnitzer | April 27, 2025
LEGAL FEES: A LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY?
American law firms with more than 750 lawyers will be charging $1 per second within a decade, according to the latest annual trends report from LexisNexis CounselLink. An overview of the report in The Law Society Gazette notes that the median partner rate in these firms exceeded $1,000 in 2024, a 6% annual rise that far exceeds inflation. This staggering uptick is found at both ends of the fee spectrum: the statistics suggest that even as partners billing at the highest rate “can raise their rates to an even higher degree than other partners”, associates’ rates are rising more rapidly than partners’ charges.
Related Article: LexisNexis: AI will allow lawyers to charge $10K hourly
CHATGPT, AT 7% OF THE COST, DOES WHAT LEXISNEXIS CANNOT
A U.S. attorney has complained to Practice Source that his $270 monthly LexisNexis subscription could not give him the correct citation for a regulatory body decision, whereas a $20 monthly ChatGPT subscription had no problem doing so. This, the lawyer writes, “… does not bode well for legaltech”.
Related Article: BLG appoints Canadian law firms’ first chief AI officer
SWISS REJECT “BIMBO” TRADEMARK
The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) has rejected an application by Bimbo, a Mexican international food company, to extend protection to its trademark. In a client bulletin, MME Legal Tax Compliance reports that IGE based the rejection “on the grounds that the term ‘Bimbo’ has a deeply perjorative and racist connotation for people of colour” (the Swiss meaning is different from the English meaning of a young woman considered attractive but not intelligent). Bimbo appealed twice but did not succeed.
Related Article: Not a valid TM: “This is the Fucking News”
FANTASIZING IN COURT
William Davis of Dallas, a former nurse convicted of fatally injecting air into four patients’ arteries following heart surgeries, and facing the death sentence, has alleged that his attorney, Philip Hayes, sought sex from an undercover policewoman by texting her during a two-hour period while a key prosecution witness was testifying, The lawyer later pleaded guilty to soliciting a prostitute and received a sentence of probation that included a $1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service. Davis is now seeking to vacate his conviction, no doubt alleging that the visceral power of the distraction prevented Hayes from giving him proper representation.
Related Article: Lawyer disbarred for extramarital affairs
DELLELCE RECOGNIZED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIETY
Wildeboer Dellelce’s managing partner, Perry Dellelce, has received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for outstanding community service and philanthropic and business achievements. Thirty thousand Canadians “who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to their community and service to their country” were awarded the honour to mark the monarch’s coronation.
Related Article: Dellelce gets third honourary doctorate
Julius Melnitzer is a Toronto-based legal affairs writer, ghostwriter, writing coach and media trainer. Readers can reach him at julius@legalwriter.net or on his website.