 Welcome:
Who We Are:
What We Do:
Articles & Publications:
Presentations:
Last update:
01/01/12
Established 1993
|
| |
Welcome to The Devil's Advocate
Established in 1993, The Devil's Advocate is
the leading authority on legal fees. We have
examined over $1 billion in legal fees in hundreds of engagements. Our clients include major corporations,
government agencies, law firms, insurance companies, and anyone else who pays substantial
legal fees, needs to examine the reasonableness of legal fees,
or wishes to analyze litigation. We have reviewed
most major law firms and hundreds of smaller firms. We are
nationally-recognized for our legal fee management and
litigation consulting expertise,
including legal bill reviews (or "legal bill audits") and expert testimony.
Anyone is welcome to
browse our site for helpful information. We have links on this website
to other resources, including state bar organizations that are supposed to
regulate lawyers. Follow this link for
more information if you are having problems with your lawyer.
|
We wrote the
book on legal fees.
The
authoritative text on legal fees & how to manage
them is ...
|
 |
|
Legal Fees: Law & Management
by John Toothman & Prof. William G. Ross
published by Carolina
Academic Press
also available through
Barnes&Noble.com
More information |
|
|
|
Two New Books for Clients &
Lawyers by John Toothman
Available online as
e-books. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
-
The Civilian's Guide to Lawyers
-- How to Hire a Lawyer: The
first of three volumes to assist clients to hire, manage, and fire a lawyer or, if they cannot find an
affordable, cost-effective lawyer, to represent themselves. (Vol.
1 $9.90; 44,000 words) (Vol. 2: How to Fire a Lawyer; Vol. 3:
How to Live Without a Lawyer coming soon)
|
|
|
|
|
Our latest
paper: To Get Paid, Get Reasonable
An article we presented at the ABA's
Litigation Section conference in Tucson. Includes an extensive
discussion of the basis for reasonable legal fees and expenses and how
those issues are handled in common litigation and ethical situations.
Also discusses common legal bill review ("audit") issues.
Request
a copy of our paper
Here
|
Devil's Advocate brings the perspective of experienced trial lawyers to
legal fee analysis and litigation management.
- Our services include:
- legal bill reviews and audits,
- independent litigation
consulting,
- second opinions on litigation options,
- case post-mortems, both for legal malpractice claims or lawyer management,
- real-time litigation monitoring,
- law firm evaluation, selection, and auditions,
- expert testimony, including billing disputes, ethics, and malpractice,
- law firm billing agreements,
- alternative fees,
- litigation strategy and tactics audits,
- case risk and expense evaluation,
including analysis for third-parties like analysts, investors, and
competitors,
- legal fee budgets and estimates,
- fee dispute mediation and arbitration
(consulting for a party or acting as the mediator or arbitrator), and
- litigation and legal fee management training.
- Devil's Advocate and its unique services have been featured in stories by The
Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bottomline, CBS Radio's Marketplace, Inc. Magazine, The
Business News Network, Entrepreneur magazine, The New Jersey Law Journal,
New York Post, New York Law Journal, Legal Times, Nation's Business, American
Lawyer, California Lawyer, Miami Herald, Virginia Business
Magazine, Of Counsel, D&B Report, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and many
more publications.
- For clients without in-house legal counsel, we provide our Independent Counsel
service to fill the legal management gap at a reasonable cost.
- We strive to provide cost-effective services while promoting an equitable
lawyer-client relationship.
- We are independent. We do not prejudge any legal bill
or law firm. We are not owned
by nor are we affiliated with any other entity, such
as an insurance company or law firm.
- Our legal fee reviews and audits are based on
legal, not arbitrary, standards.
- We track ethical rules and maintain the confidentiality of our
work.
- We use proprietary methods and
software to automate and expedite review, but we dig deep with a
line-by-line review.
- The fees we charge are the most
reasonable in the country.
- Our services are provided nationwide.
- DA is registered as a federal
contractor through the GSA Central Contractor Registry.
Since The Devil's Advocate was founded in 1993, we have been the pre-eminent national authority on legal fee management. We have also
pioneered litigation consulting to monitor lawyer performance as well as cost.
Browse our web-site for more information about our
services, our experience, and samples of our work. We've included
articles by and about us. You'll also find valuable monographs we have prepared,
including the Client Bill of Rights, Managing Lawyers and Legal Fees, and our
client-friendly Billing Agreement. |
|
Site keywords: The Devil's Advocate, John Toothman (founder), legal fee management, litigation consulting,
trial lawyers, controlling legal costs, controlling litigation costs, controlling legal fees, legal cost control, litigation cost control, legal cost management, legal expense management, trial practice, civil litigation, civil discovery, American Rule, client,
lawyer, legal fees, attorney fees, lawyers fees, retention, hiring lawyers, attorneys, expert witness,
expert testimony, legal bills, legal bill, lawyer bill, attorney fee, attorney bill, lawyers' bills, legal fee invoices, litigation management, attorneys' bills, fee
petitions, bankruptcy, audit, Litigation Foundation, review, civil rights, discrimination, Title VII, insurance companies, fee
shifting, prevailing party, legal expenses, cost-effective, second opinions, monitoring counsel, quality, legal fee budgets, legal fee estimates, reconciling legal fee budgets to legal bills,
performance, legal fee audits, litigation fee audits, audit legal bills, legal bill audits, legal bill reviews, law firms, accounting, accountants,
general counsel, second opinions, Trial Practice Checklists (West Group); Legal Fees: Law and Management (Carolina Academic Press), Trial Practice Checklists, independent counsel, alternative fees, client bill of rights, chief financial officer, legal fee reduction, John Toothman, reinsurance,
hourly fees. Headquarters in Great Falls, Northern Virginia, USA, in the Metropolitan Washington DC (District of Columbia) area. |