Embrace Volume Billing to Grow at Scale
For many attorneys, the traditional path – high hourly rates, selective caseloads and slow client growth – can feel limiting. Increasingly, lawyers are rethinking their approach, embracing “volume billing”: accepting lower, often flat rates for services, but serving a higher number of clients. This shift is helping attorneys grow faster, diversify their practices and build sustainable firms.
Why Volume Billing?
Client acquisition and income stability are challenges that all attorneys face – doubly so for solo and small firm attorneys. Carlos Morrow, owner of Morrow Law, uses a balance of volume billing and traditional billing to cultivate a flexible practice that in turn supports his second vocation, screen acting. Embracing volume billing allows attorneys like Carlos to widen their potential client base beyond those who can afford the high rate of traditional hourly billing. It often results in more consistent work for these attorneys, as they take on clients who otherwise would not even attempt to resolve their legal matter. One avenue that enabled volume billing for Carlos was joining the ARAG attorney network. “I discovered ARAG at a time when I needed flexibility and a steady income.”
The ARAG Model: A Platform for Growth
ARAG is a legal plan provider with a member base of over 2.4 million. Legal fees for covered matters are paid out to the network attorneys directly by ARAG – it not only increases access to affordable legal services but also connects attorneys with a unique pool of clients exclusive to network members.
While ARAG is just one way to implement volume billing, its model demonstrates how attorneys can grow their practices without sacrificing quality. The principles of volume billing apply broadly, whether through legal plan attorney networks or other platforms.
In addition, volume billing, especially when done via a legal plan attorney network, enables attorneys to expand their potential client base by making legal services accessible to a wider audience. By offering more affordable rates, network attorneys are able to open their doors to individuals who might otherwise be excluded due to the high cost of traditional hourly billing. This model helps bridge the gap in access to justice, ensuring that more people can get the legal support they need without prohibitive costs.
“It provided me a stable income and flexibility so that I didn’t need to work for someone else anymore, I could sustain myself, then grow my practice and advance my other pursuits,” Carlos explains. For many, this steady flow of work is the foundation for long-term growth.
Patience Kaysee, ARAG network attorney and owner of Kaysee Legal Group, meanwhile, values the flexibility ARAG offers: “I can select cases that fit my schedule and block off time when I’m not available. That allows me to be flexible and manage my workload.” For volume billing to succeed, attorneys must embrace technology and process improvements.
Making Volume Work: Advice from Other Attorneys
For attorneys considering this approach, current ARAG network attorneys have some clear advice:
Handling a high caseload requires efficiency and smart systems. Mark Lyda is a network attorney from Colorado who began his career in a large law firm, but then opened his own small firm. Since hanging his shingle, he has grown to a multi-state firm with nearly 20 attorneys. The key to his growth? Focusing on strong practice management – particularly streamlining intake and claims, emphasizing what he calls “time loss prevention.” Mark recommends automating intake and engagement letters: “Create a system to make intake more efficient, both in screening cases, verifying coverage and signing a client up with an engagement letter.”
And volume billing isn’t about taking every case – it’s about managing time and maintaining quality. As Carlos states, “Start steady. Just have one or two cases. Learn the system, then grow it to five. Learn how the billing works, learn how the clients work, learn how to move the cases. Then you can move from 5 to 10, 10 to 15 and so on.”
Rethinking Success in Legal Practice
Volume billing offers attorneys a path to growth, flexibility, diverse experience and sustainable income. While the traditional approach to legal work has been maximizing hourly rate and billable hours, with AI and pro se representation becoming more viable, maximizing your client base with avenues like ARAG may be the new blueprint to success in an evolving legal industry. As Carlos reflects, “ARAG really gave me the chance to be my own boss, broaden my horizons and pursue both my legal and personal passions.” For attorneys willing to embrace change, volume billing may be the key to a thriving, modern practice.