When I wrote last month about the growing number of firms making significant efforts to embrace alternative fee arrangements, it caught the attention of J.Y. Miller and Joe Kilpatrick of Husch Blackwell. Miller and Kilpatrick are two of the leaders of the firm’s Innovāt Alliance, a national toxic tort defense team with around 60 core members spread out around about 15 states. Miller said the group handles the “vast majority” of their work on a fixed fee basis.  

“It really starts with a commitment to one another and a commitment to our clients,” said Miller, who heads the alliance as well as serving as the office managing partner of The Link, the firm’s virtual office. “We’re able to focus on those things, and we don’t worry about billable hours and hourly rates, and all those things that really make lawyers and clients miserable if we’re being honest.”