FRANCHISE LAW WITH ZING

Our Approach

We launched Plave Koch PLC in February 2007 with a vision to break away from the routines and perverse incentive structures of large law firms.  If we no longer qualify as “new,” it nevertheless still feels new to us, and the sense of exhilaration lingers. We enter into every client relationship with these commitments:

  • To remember where we started – and, more important, why we started.
  • To try to make our enthusiasm contagious.
  • To sustain an environment in which we have the flexibility to work creatively with clients, developing realistic budgets to meet reasonable expectations, all while competing for interesting and challenging work.

We’re one of the largest franchise law practices in the country, packed into a small, dynamic firm. We’re nimble – not bound by the management trappings or costly overhead of a large law firm. Our combination of experience and efficiency, as well as our practical, business-oriented approach, enables us to deliver first-class services to our clients at a reasonable cost.

Franchise Law With Zing

Our overall goal is to offer a fresh and independent approach to providing legal services.  We call it “zing.”  While we first used the word tongue-in-cheek, we’ve grown attached to the term “zing” and what it represents.  As we see it, “zing” means:

  • Vitality: Providing excellent service at simple, fair, and predictable rates
  • Flavor: Making our advice understandable and memorable with personality, practicality, and a sense of humor
  • Freshness: Redefining our relationship as a trusted extension of the client’s organization, not a mere vendor who just delivers a product
  • Clarity: Cutting out the layers, hype, and overhead of large law firms
  • Passion: Infusing the energy that flows from working with well-rounded friends who share a commitment to quality

Why We’re Different

No tolerance for pretense. We’re serious about the work we do and about representing our clients’ best interests, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Our firm has a zero threshold of tolerance for pretense. Yes, we take pride in the names on our client list, and we humbly appreciate the recognition that our lawyers have received, but we recognize that these things don’t entitle us to quit learning, to carry a big ego, or to stop earning our clients’ trust every day.

Respect for your money. We believe the purpose of legal fees is to pay for our advice and services, not for artwork and furniture. Clients who visit will see offices that are practical and professional, but no more. We keep our rates as reasonable as our décor. We don’t need impressive artwork and fancy furniture to tell us that we’re successful.

No internal competition. Unlike most firms, we don’t make it a point to track “client-claiming” credit.  We don’t think it should be the client’s burden to worry about who gets credit for business, so we are intentionally structured to avoid competing within our own team.  Clients need not fear stepping on one partner’s toes if they want to call another Plave Koch lawyer for an answer, whether it involves a quick question that can’t wait or a subject that’s really within someone else’s wheelhouse.

Flexible billing. We make it our goal to always bill our clients fairly and ensure you are comfortable with the value of the services we provide. Here are some key points of our billing philosophy:

  • We will often offer fixed project fees in situations in which we are familiar, where we have sufficient experience in similar projects and are knowledgeable about the scope of work for the case. Fixed fee projects can help offer a degree of certainty for clients who have a set budget in place for legal services.
  • When it is not feasible to establish fixed fees, or if you do not prefer a fixed fee, we typically work on an hourly basis. We can provide an estimate of total costs in advance, though this will often change as the case progresses.
  • We do not charge for more than one lawyer to do the same task.  Although we like to consult with each other on client questions, on the “two-heads-are-better-than-one” theory, we believe this should be a benefit and not a cost for the client.  So if two lawyers confer on a question, or share a task, or ask for a second look on a draft, the client pays for only one lawyer’s time.
  • We do not charge clients for expenses that law firms traditionally have passed through – such as telephone usage charges, postage, or internal copying.  We view these items as part of our cost of doing business.
  • We do not bill for time spent traveling, except to the extent that work is actually being done for you during travel.

Lack of Conflicts. We are a small firm. We are much less likely than our larger competitors to encounter conflicts of interest in undertaking a project. There certainly can be no conflicts with other practice groups within the firm, because, well, we don’t have any other practice groups.

No Layers of Review. All of our partners have well over 10 years of experience in franchising, so there is little need to review each other’s work. If it’s beneficial to you, attorneys on our team might ask for another pair of eyes on his or her work product, but we will not charge for layers of review.

Periodic “No Charge” Meetings. To stay in tune with your business, we encourage regular, in-person, “off the meter” meetings at your office. These are typically free-flowing discussions of whatever’s on your mind. We often learn things about future plans, franchise relationships, etc., that we might miss in the day-to-day and month-to-month work. We cherish these opportunities to fit our work into the larger context in which you operate.

The Bottom Line

A big part of standing out from the crowd is the sheer willingness to risk being different.  We are not just willing, but eager, to accept that risk.  If the approach described above challenges your preconceptions about working with a law firm, it’s just fine with us.

Today it is more vital than ever to stay connected with the founding principles of Plave Koch. Please dare us to be different – and if you feel the difference, tell us. Meet our attorneys today, call us at 703-774-1200 or contact us online to get started.