A recent AM Law Daily story, “When It Comes to Billing, Latest Rate Report Shows the Rich Keep Getting Richer,” reports that hourly rates just keep rising—and the best paid lawyers are rising their rates faster than everyone else.   Those are two key findings contained in the 2012 Real Rate Report, an analysis of $7.6 billion in legal bills paid by corporations over a five-year period ending in December 2011.  The report, released Monday, is the second such collaboration between TyMetrix, a company that manages and audits legal bills for corporate legal departments and the Corporate Executive Board.

Many of the new rate report’s findings echo those contained in the 2010 study, including the fact that rates keep going up, almost across the board, and that the cost of a given matter can very dramatically depending on a law firm’s size and location and its relationship with a particular client.  At the same time, this year’s study shows the legal sector is becoming increasing bifurcated, with top law firms rising rates faster than those at the bottom of the market and large firms changing a premium price based purely on their size.

“It’s no surprise that defense fees have ticked up,” said Terry Jesse, Executive Director of NALFA.  “The rates are keeping in-line with the demand, especially for the very best in the field.  Generally speaking, I would expect rates to rise less rapidly and/or and increase in alternative fee arrangements in both transactional and litigation matters when demand levels off,” Jesse concluded.