The relatively low fees paid for legal work in Asia has been a source of near-constant grumbling by law firm partners over the years. The belief—or hope—has been that over time, Asian clients would become more sophisticated and learn to value the hard work of their lawyers enough to pay fees comparable to those paid by clients in Europe or the United States. So far, it’s not happening.
But fee issues in Asia are only partly about client sophistication. Just as important is that for clients, the stakes aren’t as high, and the consequences of bad lawyering aren’t as dire.
