Although just a snapshot of the way in which professionals approach the delicate issue of pricing legal work for clients, a recent survey of 260 transactions at a leading mid-market law firm revealed that 72% of quotes were under the final amount billed, by an average of 21%. An additional 12% was also written off before the client's bill was submitted.

As last year's report by the Commerce and Industry Group, 'Stop the Clock', stated, underestimating the final amount a client has to pay can cause dissatisfaction and mistrust of lawyers.

Coupled with the current pressure from clients to reduce costs, the better partners are able to correctly appraise the needs of a client, quote accurately, manage the work efficiently and manage variations, the greater the client's satisfaction.