Billing statements should depend on the experience, expertise and reputation of the attorney.
I recently heard from board members from a condominium association who were inquiring about how various law firms bill out their services. Their experience was that one law firm charged the same hourly rates for all of its attorneys while another law firm had different rates for their attorneys and they were seeking my opinion on these billing methods.
I truly believe that appropriate charges should depend upon the experience, expertise and reputation of the attorneys. If one law firm is charging the same rate for all their attorneys, the question to ask is are all their attorneys equally experienced in the particular area of law needed? More than likely that is not the case and one may be better off hiring a law firm that has varying rates depending upon the experience and length of service of the attorney, even if the hourly rates for some of the attorneys may be higher than the hourly rate charged by the firm who charged the same rate for all of its attorneys. Remember the old adage, he who charges least knows best what he/she is worth.