Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributor
You know that moment when a client looks at a bill and just… nods? Christopher Clark, a litigator at a boutique law firm, got one of those last year, the WSJ reported. He’d hiked his rate to a once-absurd $3,000 an hour. The client’s reply? “Congratulations. That’s the highest we’ve seen.”
A year earlier, $2,500 felt like the ceiling. Now it looks almost cute.
According to Persuit’s latest billing data, senior partners at the biggest 50 firms pushed rates up an average 16% in 2025. Some are now openly quoting $3,400 an hour. And that’s before you get to the real outliers.
In bankruptcy filings, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis have partners clearing the $3,000 mark this year. Reuters reported in January that Susman Godfrey’s Bill Carmody and Neal Manne quietly set their 2026 rack rate at $4,000 an hour — up from $3,000 last year. (Lawfuel broke the same story and called it “Four Thousand an Hour Arrives in US Big Law Billing.”)
The firm mostly works on contingency anyway, so the headline number is half theatre, half flex. Carmody still says it with a straight face: “If there’s someone out there who bills higher on hourly cases, please let us know so we may raise ours.”
Eric Troutman, a telecom-regulation specialist in Southern California, went straight for the jugular: he told clients he’s moving from $4,200 to $6,000 an hour for his niche consulting work. A few prospects walked. Most didn’t. Supply, meet demand.
The excuses — sorry, reasons — are the usual cocktail: talent wars, skyrocketing associate salaries, “high-stakes” everything, and the quiet knowledge that when your company is staring down a bet-the-company lawsuit or a nine-figure deal, the guy who can make it disappear in one phone call is worth whatever he feels like charging.
Intuit’s general counsel Kerry McLean put it bluntly: “Some of these guys are worth it. They understand the industry, they’re connected, they have the experience.” Translation: we grumble about associate rates and shove AI at the grunt work, but when the real rainmakers walk in, the corporate Amex stays open.
David Boies, who’s seen a few rate cycles, called the current top-end numbers “out of sight by any standard in a sensible world.” He charges just over $2,700 and still positions his firm as the bargain. That tells you everything about where the market has landed.
Meanwhile, routine work is getting squeezed hard. Companies are pulling document review, due diligence and basic filings in-house with AI. Associates who used to bill $1,400–$2,000 an hour are feeling the heat. But the stars at the very top? Untouchable.
As Persuit CEO Jim Delkousis dryly noted, traditional rate hikes are starting to look not just expensive — illogical.
Yet the invoices keep clearing.
Because in the end, this isn’t really about hours. It’s about fear, ego, and the quiet calculation that $3,400 today beats a $50 million loss tomorrow. Clients may roll their eyes, but they pay. Every single time.
