Rethinking your firm’s pricing? Align values with value first

Any discussion about pricing of legal services with clients should not occur until partners and senior leaders in a firm understand their own personal values, writes Brent Szalay.

In short:

• Leaders should be clear on their own values before trying to tackle the pricing of their legal services.
• After determining such values, firms can then hold value conversations with clients to learn about the deliverables they are expecting from a law firm.
• Finally, the firm can then deploy a pricing model that supports its values and provides value for the client.

Current discussions around pricing in legal practice often leap straight into the idea of value. What does the client value? How do we demonstrate value? What is the right price for the value we create?

These conversations, while important, can be premature. Before a firm can deliver genuine value and price it accordingly, partners and senior leaders must first anchor it to something more fundamental: their own values.

This is because a law firm’s ability to provide meaningful, differentiated service is shaped not just by market demand but by what it stands for. When firm leaders take the time to clarify their business values (the principles that guide decisions, culture and client interactions) they create the conditions for service value to be defined and priced with confidence.

Only when values are made explicit can a firm move from generic service delivery to intentional, client-centric outcomes. From there, a pricing strategy that reflects purpose and performance becomes not just possible, but truly powerful.

What follows is a step-by-step process that begins with internal reflection and leads to settling on a values-aligned pricing model that benefits clients, deepens their trust and strengthens your firm.

Step 1: Establish what’s important to you

Forget billable hours and pricing models for a moment. Start with the big question: What matters to me in this business?

Write down single words like “trust” or “quality” and then add full statements that elaborate on exactly what that word means to you and your firm specifically. There are no prizes for glossing over the facts here – you want your outputs to be as real as possible.

For example, they could be:

• Profitability: Making enough money to provide for my family and give generously.
• Balance: Having a healthy work-life scenario that doesn’t burn me out.
• Alignment: Working with clients I care about, not just anyone.
• Culture: Building a strong team based on connection and collaboration.

Start your list and keep adding to it until you’re satisfied that you’ve captured the scope of your firm’s values in one list.

Step 2: Find what’s driving those values

Here is where it gets interesting. Examine each value closely and ask: Why is this important to me?

Once again, be truthful and don’t assume the worst of yourself, either. For example, the desire to “make enough money” is rarely driven by greed. It may have come from growing up in a household where money was always tight. You don’t want to feel that anxiety again and definitely don’t want your team or clients to ever feel it either.

This example might seem oddly specific, but it’s here to highlight that this part of the process is deeply personal. Be truthful to the process and it will give you the clarity you need to cement a reason for your chosen values, especially if they are rooted in real experiences.

Step 3: Rank your values

Once you have a list of values and a ‘why’ that justifies them, it’s time to rank them from highest priority to lowest. It sounds arbitrary, but when two of them come into conflict (and they will eventually) you need to know which one wins without returning to theory and conjecture.

It can be hard to see why this is important at this point in the process, so here’s another example to help clarify the need to rank your values properly.

Say, for instance, “balance” (in work life) is ranked above “growth”. This can lead to you saying no to certain kinds of work, even if it’s lucrative. That’s alignment in action, and you’ll have complete confidence in that decision if you’ve spent the time to understand what matters most to you and your firm.

Step 4: Define your top 4 values

Now that you have a sizable list of ranked values, zoom in on the top four and give them more shape.

Take “trust”, for example, and ask yourself the fundamentals of that value:

• How do I give trust?
• How do I earn trust?
• What happens when trust is broken?

You’ll be surprised how quickly this can change your day-to-day once you’ve properly fleshed out your core four values. From how you communicate externally to how you set expectations with staff, it all comes from what you believe in.

Step 5: Bring clients into the conversation

Once you’ve done the internal work, the next step is to incorporate the most important part of your business outside of the firm you’ve built: your clients.

Even with decades of experience, never presume to know what a client truly values. Instead, hold value conversations with them whenever possible and go into each interaction with the desire to learn.

Don’t frontload them with your intent to understand what they value. Instead, look to tease out the answers organically by asking questions that align with the service they are seeking first and foremost.

• What are you hoping to achieve?
• Why is that important?
• What would a successful outcome look like?

These kinds of questions uncover priorities the client may not have even voiced yet and can guide you to further refining your values by tempering them with the thoughts, beliefs and insights of the people who underpin your firm’s success.

Say you work with a client who initially tells you that they want to “stay in the family business” throughout a divorce. However, after a proper values conversation, you uncover that what they really want is recognition for years of behind-the-scenes contribution.

That insight could change not just your whole strategy, but your reason for taking on this client in the first place. Now, instead of fighting to stay involved in something they no longer love, you can focus on negotiating an outcome that honours their contributions and sets them up for the next phase of their life.

You’ve taken what you and your firm stand for and discovered that your client is seeking an outcome that matches the values you hold dear. This is where your values finally align with the value of the service you provide as a legal professional, and it all leads to better client outcomes and better results for your firm.

Step 6: Build a pricing model that reflects what you stand for

By this point, you’ve done the real work. You’ve named your values, unpacked their origins, ranked their importance and defined them clearly. You’ve also engaged your clients in honest, insightful conversations about what matters to them, not just in terms of legal outcomes, but in how they want to be supported along the way.

Now, pricing becomes the natural extension of all of that. It stops being a commercial sticking point and starts becoming a strategic decision, one that aligns with how you serve, who you serve and why you serve.

Instead of asking, “What is the right price for the value we create?” ask,“What pricing model supports the values we’re committed to?”

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. In fact, the model you choose may evolve depending on the type of work, the nature of client relationships, and the outcomes being sought. Whether it’s fixed-fee, phased pricing, retainers, contingency structures, or the increasingly popular collaborative value-based approach, the key is that your pricing choices are always made with values-led intention.

In essence, this turns pricing into an expression of leadership. It sends a signal to your clients, your team and even yourself: this is how we do business, because this is what we believe in.

Final thought: Values lead, value follows

Rethinking your pricing isn’t just about the dollars. It’s about direction. When you clarify what you stand for and bring your clients into that process, you create space for better conversations and more transparent agreements.

If you’re a senior partner or decision-maker in your firm, start with the real questions. Let your values speak and let your clients respond. Then, choose pricing strategies that let those values show up clearly, consistently and confidently every day.

When values lead, value isn’t just measured. It’s multiplied.

Brent Szalay is the founder and strategic business advisor at Leaders in Business, where he helps small and medium-sized legal practices strengthen their strategic direction and leadership. A Fellow of CPA Australia, Brent is known for his practical approach to business growth and his commitment to empowering professionals to lead with clarity and confidence.
www.leadersinbusiness.com.au