Let me tell you something I hear from founders constantly.
They needed a contract reviewed six weeks ago. They knew they needed it. But they kept putting off the call to their attorney because they weren't sure what the conversation would cost. So they waited. And in the meantime, they signed something they shouldn't have, or they let a deal sit longer than it needed to.
That's the billable hour working exactly as designed — just not in your favor.
I've spent my career on both sides of this equation. I know what it feels like to be the client watching legal costs pile up with no clear end in sight. And I know what it looks like when a business pulls back from getting the counsel they need because they're afraid of the bill. Neither situation is good for anyone.
That's why Kinser Marchant does something most law firms still won't: we price everything as a flat fee, upfront, before we start.
What flat fee pricing actually means for your business
It means before we do a single hour of work, you know exactly what it costs. Not an estimate. Not a range. A number. You can put it in your budget, get sign-off from your CFO, and move forward without a second thought.
For a growing company, that matters more than most founders realize until they've been burned by an hourly bill that came in two or three times what they expected. Legal costs are already one of the least predictable line items in a young business. Flat fee pricing fixes that entirely.
You also stop doing the mental math every time you need us. You don't hesitate before sending an email or picking up the phone because you're calculating what that conversation is going to cost. You just call. That's how the relationship is supposed to work.
The incentive problem with hourly billing
Here's something nobody in my profession likes to say out loud: the billable hour doesn't reward efficiency. It rewards time. The longer a matter takes, the more the firm makes. That's not an accusation — it's just the math of the model.
Flat fee pricing flips that entirely. When we quote you a fixed price, our incentive is to handle your work as well and as efficiently as possible. We don't benefit from complexity. We benefit from doing excellent work and building a relationship with you that lasts well beyond the current engagement.
The question I get from founders
"But what if my situation is complicated? Can you really price that upfront?"
Yes — because we've handled enough of these matters to know what's involved. That's the value of experience. We're not guessing when we quote you a number. We're drawing on years of transactional work to give you a price that's fair to both of us.
And if something genuinely changes scope mid-engagement, we tell you immediately. In writing. Before any additional work begins. No surprises on that end either.
What this means for your planning
The data is unambiguous. Seventy-one percent of business clients say they prefer flat fee pricing over hourly billing. Flat fee matters close nearly three times faster. And attorney after attorney who has made the switch reports the same thing: once clients stop worrying about the clock, they call sooner, share more, and get better outcomes.
That is what flat fee pricing is really about. Not just a different way to pay — a fundamentally different relationship with your attorney. One where you call when you have a question, not six weeks after you needed the answer. One where your legal costs show up in your budget like every other line item. One where the firm you hired is working to solve your problem, not extend it.
Growing businesses shouldn't have to choose between cost control and good legal advice. We built Kinser Marchant so they don't have to.
Kimberly Marchant is a Partner at Kinser Marchant, an Oklahoma City-based corporate and business law firm serving growing companies across the country. To discuss your situation, contact kim@kinsermarchant.com.