The Billable Hour Was Built to Bill You. Fire the Meter.

|Matthew P. Krupnick

By Matthew P. Krupnick. I'm a California litigator with over 20 years of experience on both sides of the fence — plaintiff and defense — and a Super Lawyers Rising Star selection eight years running, a distinction given to no more than 2.5% of attorneys each year. I've been privileged to work alongside some outstanding lawyers over the years.

But enough about me…

Here's a confession from inside the profession: in my opinion, the most profitable thing in law isn't wisdom. It's time. Your time, sold back to you in tenths of an hour, while someone retypes a document that existed long before you walked in the door.

So what's that time worth? According to Clio, the average hourly rate for a California lawyer was $422 in 2025, up from $344 in 2023. That's a jump of roughly 23% in two years. The California average was $443 an hour for wills and estates, $465 for real estate and $452 for business work. And bankruptcy carried the highest average rate of any California practice area Clio tracks: $553 an hour. Think about that: the practice area built around people who have run out of money carries the biggest average price tag in the state.

Now compare that with what Californians say they can stomach. In the State Bar of California's 2024 Justice Gap Study, the average amount people said they'd be willing to pay for an hour-long consultation with a lawyer was $153. Twenty-seven percent said they were too worried about the cost to seek legal help at all. Nearly half said they'd only consult a lawyer if they didn't have to pay anything upfront.

That's not a gap. It's a canyon, and people are falling into it. The same study found that Californians don't get any legal help, or enough of it, for 85% of their civil legal problems.

The meter never sleeps

Let me say what I think, plainly, as a lawyer: the billable hour rewards exactly the wrong things. Slow is profitable. Complicated is profitable. The "quick call" is profitable. The "just circling back" email is profitable. Under that model, the lawyer who solves your problem fast earns less than the one who solves it slowly. You don't have to assume anyone is acting in bad faith to see which way the incentive points.

Then there's the retainer: the deposit you hand over at the start, which can feel like it has the half-life of an ice cube on a Burbank sidewalk in August. One month you have a cushion. The next, a polite note asks you to "replenish." And the invoice, a tower of tenth-of-an-hour entries stacked like Jenga blocks, doesn't always make it clear where the money went. Anyone who has squinted at a statement and wondered whether a two-line email really took twelve minutes knows the feeling.

Here's the part that should make you angry. According to the State Bar's study, when Californians actually talked to a lawyer, one in five of their problems got this answer: you have a valid case, it just isn't financially worthwhile for the lawyer to pursue. Among small-business owners who didn't speak with an attorney, 67% cited cost as a primary concern. In my view, that's what a pricing model looks like when it's built around the bill instead of the client. You can be right, have a real problem and still be priced out of fixing it.

I'm not saying every lawyer is greedy. Plenty of them work hard and earn every dollar. I'm saying the system makes the meter the point and efficiency optional, and clients pay for that design.

DIY isn't a dirty word

My profession has spent a long time treating paperwork like sorcery. In my opinion, a lot of it isn't. It's knowing which form you need, what goes in it, what proof to gather and what to do next. That's the part that gets billed by the hour. That's the part I packaged.

Want proof that the system expects regular people to handle things themselves? In California small claims court, you can't have a lawyer represent you. The California Courts self-help guide puts it bluntly: you can ask a lawyer for advice before you go to court, "but you can't have one with you in court." The filing fee is between $30 and $100. You're walking in alone either way, so the only question is whether you walk in organized.

Here's what doing it yourself, with the right tools, gets you:

  • You know the price before you start. A flat price doesn't get bigger because you asked a follow-up question.
  • You set the clock. Work at midnight, on a Sunday or in fifteen-minute bursts. Nobody bills you for thinking.
  • You see inside before you pay. Every package has a free preview, so you can check the layout and approach first.
  • You know the boundaries. Every package states what it covers and what it leaves out.

So I built the exit

ThinkingRight.llc is my answer. It's where I sell CounselCraft digital legal packages: California-specific guides, editable documents, fillable worksheets and step-by-step workflows for problems that ordinary people and small businesses actually run into.

Here's what's on the shelf right now:

Do the math. Every package on that list costs less than one hour at the average California lawyer rate. The Estate Planning System costs less than half of the average California wills-and-estates rate for a single hour. The Small Claims Kit costs less than an eighth of an hour at the average California lawyer rate, which works out to less than seven minutes on the meter.

To be fair, a flat-price package and an hour of a lawyer's time aren't the same thing, and I won't pretend they are. One is a tool you use yourself. The other is a professional looking at your specific facts. The question is which one your situation actually needs.

What these packages are, and what they aren't

This is where I part ways with the hype merchants, because I'm going to tell you the truth.

These packages are tools. They help you organize your facts, understand the process and prepare documents for straightforward situations. They are not a substitute for personalized legal advice, and buying one doesn't make me your lawyer. If your situation is complicated, contested or high-stakes, you may need an attorney to look at your specific facts. I'll tell you that up front instead of quietly letting the meter run while you figure it out.

But if what you need is a clear, organized, California-focused starting point, without paying for a three-hour "review" of a form someone has used a hundred times, this is for you.

Brand new, and growing every week

The site just launched, and I'm adding new products regularly. Landlords, small-business owners, employees, families planning ahead and families settling an estate should keep checking back.

Go see for yourself at www.thinkingright.llc. Read the free previews. Check the scope. Then decide whether you'd rather buy the tool or keep feeding the meter.

Prices are as listed on the store on October 4, 2026, and may change.

Responsible attorney: Matthew P. Krupnick, Attorney at Law. Practice address: 7354 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046.

Disclaimer: CounselCraft products are self-help legal documents sold by Thinking Right, LLC. They are not legal advice, and buying or using one does not create an attorney-client relationship. Use responsibly.