There is a very good chance that you’re not charging enough for your services. By enough, I mean the amount your services are worth and what good clients would be willing and able to pay.

Why do I make this assumption? Because when I consult with lawyers and we talk about their fees, almost all of them are on the low side. That, plus recent surveys which show that two-thirds of solo lawyers earn a gross income of less than $200,000 per year and 28% earn less than $100,000 (again, gross income), tell me I’m right.

If you have been following me for awhile and have moved away from offering the same basic, “commodity” services most lawyers offer, in favor of higher-level, better-paying work, you’re offering more value and you should be paid for it.

How much more? Perhaps double or triple.

It’s exciting to think about doubling your income without doing anything more than increasing your fees. But you might be afraid to do it, thinking that most of your clients would leave.

Don’t let that fear stop you.

You can minimize the risk of a wholesale exodus by doing it over a period of years.

If you increased your fees 20% starting next year, yes, you might lose some clients. My guess is that it would far fewer than you imagine, perhaps very few or none at all, but if you do lose some clients, two things would happen:

1. No matter how many clients you lose, if the rest of your clients pay you 20% more than they had been paying, your net revenue for the year would increase, and
2. Any clients who leave would make room for new clients who will pay your higher rate.

If you increase your fees by 20% per year, in five years your income will double, not including compounding.

Too much? Too soon? Okay, start by charging new clients the higher rate. Once you’re comfortable with this, once you see clients are still signing up, you can begin phasing in higher rates for existing clients.

(For contingency fees, you can “raise your fees” by increasing the minimum size of the cases you accept.)

Look, I’ve seen lawyers (and accountants) who haven’t increased their fees in ten years. That’s not a professional practice, that’s a charity. You are entitled to charge what you’re worth and what the market will bear. You don’t have to settle for less.

How to ask for, and get higher fees

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