The old adage that real estate is all about location, location, location may also apply to hourly rates in litigation.  NALFA recently released the results from its annual hourly rate survey of civil litigation in the U.S.  The results, published in The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report, contains billing rate data on the factors that correlate to hourly rates in litigation: geography, years of litigation experience, position or title, complexity of case, and litigation practice size.

This empirical survey and report provides macro and micro data of defense and plaintiffs’ rates in regular and complex litigation, at various litigation experience levels, from large law firms to solo shops, and in the nation’s largest markets.  This is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive survey or study on hourly billing rates in civil litigation.

Over 16,600 litigators, both defense and plaintiffs’ counsel, from across the U.S. participated in this hourly rate survey.  For the third year in a row, the nation’s top billing rate city is Washington, DC.  When we aggregate all the responses from Washington, DC, 23 percent of the total responses fall within Tier 4 rates ($901-Over $1100), the highest percentage of the 24 cities in the billing rate survey. 

NALFA recently released the results from its 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey.  The results, published in The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report, contains billing rate data on the factors that correlate directly to hourly rates in litigation: geography, years of litigation experience, position or title, complexity of case, and litigation practice size.

This empirical survey and report provides micro and macro data of current hourly rate ranges for both defense and plaintiffs’ litigators, at various experience levels, from large law firms to solo shops, in regular and complex litigation, and in the nation’s largest markets.  This data-intensive survey contains hundreds of data sets and thousands of data points covering all relevant billing rate categories and variables.  This is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive survey or study on hourly billing rates in litigation.

This is the third year NALFA has conducted this survey on billing rates. The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report contains new cities, additional categories, and more accurate variables.  These updated features allow us to capture new and more precise billing rate data.  Through our propriety email database, NALFA surveyed thousands of litigators from across the U.S,  Over 16,600 qualified litigators fully participated in this hourly rate survey.

For the third year in a row, at the macro level, we find a chi-squared distribution for litigation billing rates.  When we plot all responses (plaintiffs' and defense) in both regular and complex litigation on a graph (x,y axis), we have a general shape distribution model known as chi-squared distribution.  That is, the distribution is not the classic bell-shaped curve. Our model here starts from a low point ($200-$250), climbs to the highest point ($451-$500), before the midpoint ($601-$650), then declines gradually and finishes with a long tail with an uptick at the very end (Over $1100). 

"You can see that the climb upwards is steeper than the gradual decline downwards," said Terry Jesse, Executive Director of NALFA .  In the graph below, the y axis is the percentage of responses and the x axis is our 20-point hourly rate scale (Less than $200 to Over $1100).

Every year, NALFA conducts an hourly rate survey of civil litigation in the U.S.   Today, NALFA released the results from its 2022 hourly rate survey.  The survey results, published in The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report, shows billing rate data on the very factors that correlate directly to hourly rates in litigation:

City / Geography
Years of Litigation Experience / Seniority
Position / Title
Practice Area / Complexity of Case
Law Firm / Law Office Size

This empirical survey and report provides micro and macro data of current hourly rate ranges for both defense and plaintiffs’ litigators, at various experience levels, from large law firms to solo shops, in regular and complex litigation, and in the nation’s largest markets.  This data-intensive survey contains hundreds of data sets and thousands of data points covering all relevant billing rate categories and variables.  This is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive survey or study on hourly billing rates in litigation.

This is the third year NALFA has conducted this survey on billing rates.  The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report contains new cities, additional categories, and more accurate variables.  These updated features allow us to capture new and more precise billing rate data.  Through our propriety email database, NALFA surveyed thousands of litigators from across the U.S.  Over 16,600 qualified litigators fully participated in this hourly rate survey.  This data-rich survey was designed to aid litigators in proving their lodestar rates in court and comparing their rates to their litigation peers.

The 2022 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report is now available for purchase.  For more on this survey, email NALFA Executive Director Terry Jesse at terry@thenalfa.org or call us at (312) 907-7275.

The old adage that real estate is all about location, location, location may also apply to hourly rates in litigation.  NALFA recently released the results from its annual hourly rate survey of civil litigation in the U.S.  The results, published in The 2021 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report, contains billing rate data on the factors that correlate to hourly rates in litigation: geography, years of litigation experience, complexity of case, and litigation practice size.

This empirical survey and report provides macro and micro data of defense and plaintiffs’ rates in regular and complex litigation, at various litigation experience levels, from large law firms to solo shops, and in the nation’s largest markets.  This is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive survey or study on hourly billing rates in litigation.

Thousands of litigators, defense and plaintiffs’ counsel, from across the U.S. participated in this hourly rate survey.  For the second year in a row, the nation’s top billing rate city is Washington, DC.  When we aggregate all the responses from Washington, DC, 18 percent of the total responses fall within Tier 4 rates ($901-Over $1100), the highest percentage of the 19 cities in the billing rate survey. 

NALFA, a non-profit group, is building a worldwide network of attorney fee expertise. Our network includes members, faculty, and fellows with expertise on reasonable attorney fees. We help organize and recognize qualified attorney fee experts from across the U.S. and around the globe. Our attorney fee experts also include court adjuncts such as bankruptcy fee examiners, special fee masters, and fee dispute neutrals.

Every year, we announce the nation's top attorney fee experts. Attorney fee experts are retained by fee-seeking or fee-challenging parties in litigation to independently prove outside attorney fees and expenses in court or arbitration. The following NALFA profile quotes are based on bio, CV, case summaries and case materials submitted to and verified by us. Here are the nation's top attorney fee experts of 2022:

"The Nation's Top Attorney Fee Expert"
John D. O'Connor
O'Connor & Associates
San Francisco, CA

"Over 30 Years of Legal Fee Audit Expertise"
Andre E. Jardini
KPC Legal Audit Services, Inc.
Glendale, CA

"Widely Respected as an Attorney Fee Expert"
Elise S. Frejka
Frejka PLLC
New York, NY

"Experienced on Analyzing Fees, Billing Entries for Fee Awards "
Robert L. Kaufman
Woodruff Spradlin & Smart
Costa Mesa, CA

"Highly Skilled on a Range of Fee and Billing Issues"
Daniel M. White
White Amundson APC
San Diego, CA

"Excellent at Communicating Her Fee Analysis to Juries, Triers of Facts, and Clients"
Jacqueline S. Vinaccia
Vanst Law LLP
San Diego, CA

"Real World Billing Review Combined With Over 40 Years of Trial Experience"
Fred M. Blum
Edlin Gallagher Huie + Blum
San Francisco, CA

"Total Mastery in Resolving Complex Attorney Fee Disputes"
Peter K. Rosen
JAMS
Los Angeles, CA

"Understands Fees, Funding, and Billing Issues in Cross Border Matters"
Glenn Newberry
Eversheds Sutherland
London, UK

"Nation's Top Scholar on Attorney Fees in Class Actions"
Brian T. Fitzpatrick
Vanderbilt Law School
Nashville, TN

NALFA recently released the results from its 2021 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey.  The results, published in The 2021 Litigation Hourly Rate Survey & Report, contains billing rate data on the...

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Every year, NALFA conducts an hourly rate survey of civil litigation in the U.S.   Today, NALFA released the results from its 2021 hourly rate survey.  The survey results, published in The 2021...

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A recent Bloomberg Law story by Roy Strom, “Big Law Rates Topping $2,000 Leave Value ‘In Eye of Beholder’” quoted two NALFA members, John D. O'Connor of O'Connor & Associates in San...

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NALFA conducts custom hourly rate surveys for clients such as law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies.  Our hourly rate surveys provide accurate data on hourly rates within a...

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