Our firm was founded on our commitment to find new solutions to the challenges facing the legal profession.* We are trained to consider risk, cost, efficiency and economy at every turn in our representation of you. Our blog There’s No Litigation Line Item on Your P & L provides deeper insight into the principles and realizations that caused us to do things differently, and might be worth your review. Our moniker when we first began the firm was “Business Minded Problem Solving”, believing that even small and medium-sized businesses deserve first class legal work as well as solid and fair legal outcomes, without breaking the bank. Our mission ever since has been to deliver on that pledge.

Throughout our representation, we consider and focus on the most cost-effective way to do our job. We know that working “smart” and working together with our clients effectively can help ensure significant cost savings, as well. For that reason, our clients have around-the-clock shared-access to their client files, allowing us to unlock unlimited potential collaboration and cost savings, and meet the demands of the “endless work day”. On their own individual timetable (we know that a business owner’s work is often done outside traditional work hours), clients can check on the status of anything, make notes to us or to their own file, and even electronically review, and approve documents we intend to file. Documents can be modified by lawyer and client alike, simultaneously.

At The Markarian Group, we also understand the value of really listening to our clients, and we encourage our clients to collaborate with us in discrete and important ways. Our experience is that the best outcomes are achieved when we partner effectively with our clients, and really listen to their concerns and ideas. Being attuned to the granular details is what allows us to achieve outstanding results.

Our team is comprised of a versatile and talented group of the best and the brightest of the next generation of legal minds, able to incorporate and embrace technology and efficiency in everything we do. We went paperless years ago, placing our practice management software and files securely in the cloud, allowing easy access from anywhere at any time. To complement those efforts, we’ve taken the time to design our law firm’s hardware and software technology infrastructure solutions to harness the efficiencies presented by today’s best-in-class technologies. We’ve in turn created our internal processes to work alongside a proprietary web of software solutions and efficiencies – with one fluid goal – to get more done in less time – achieving more value for clients, at a lower price point.

We understand that the cost of litigation, for example, is something that must be managed, and as experienced courtroom advocates, we know where and how to streamline costs in preparation for trial, without increasing risk.

We also offer non-traditional payment models for our clients, including flat fee arrangements, blended contingency arrangements and other creative ways to serve our clients’ needs and encourage efficiency in our service.

In line with that thinking, we have decided to do things differently, rejecting the emphasis of the modern law firm on “how many hours a lawyer bills.” In place of a financial target or incentive, we ensure that our team keeps their eye on the real prize – doing good work. Unlike nearly every traditional law firm our team has no “billing minimum,” that is, no daily, monthly or annual “billing requirement” or target. Instead, we ask our team to focus on “winning everything we touch,” to assure excellence in all that we do. Our primary focus is on creating value for you, our clients.

You might not be surprised to learn that focusing on excellence, and not revenue, not only keeps our clients’ interest’s paramount, it also ensures that team satisfaction is rooted in a job well done. Our blog Son, At This Firm, We Have No Billing Minimum – Just Win Everything You Touch provides a great story as to why we believe so strongly in our approach to things, and provides a greater insight as to what motivates us.

To further underline the focus we place on serving our clients, our corporate and litigation team does not charge for routine phone calls, nor for emails conveying quick updates pertaining to our representation. Our thought process is that fluid communication strengthens the attorney-client relationship and improves the end result; people should be comfortable that they don’t have to pay money just to get their lawyer on the phone, or to respond to a quick email, get an update or communicate an important nuance. Moreover, we are uncomfortable charging separately (.1 = six minutes) for small, discrete tasks which comprise much of what we do when serving our clients. That’s not why we went to law school. In addition, our firm’s ethic not to nickel and dime our clients for every phone call, email, paperclip or photocopy, provides an ongoing reminder that instead of viewing our law practice in terms of hours billed (and dollars made), our perspective focuses on creating value for those who entrust their lives and businesses to us.

Finally, we hold ourselves to account, and we always treat you the way we would wish to be treated if we were on the opposite side of the equation. If our work for you doesn’t meet our standards – we won’t charge you. It is a simple guarantee – and we pledge to do our very best representing our clients and if we fall short of our own very high standards, you don’t pay for that work.

* In 2015, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professionalism published The Relevant Lawyer – Reimaging the Future of the Legal Profession, an analysis of the challenges facing the legal profession, in recognition of the transformation of the legal landscape and the need for lawyers and law firms to plan for it and adapt. The study’s authors recognize and express concern regarding a growing justice gap, between those that can – as opposed to those that cannot – afford competent legal counsel. The study cautions that the legal profession was in danger of pricing itself out of relevance, needed to consider alternative financial models and adapt to both the competitive threats from, and the benefits of, evolving technologies. The study continues to serve as our firm’s polestar.