Lawyers in US law firms are not billing as much as they used to, but are charging more for what they do. Research from Wells Fargo Private Bank found that those in the 100 highest-grossing firms were billing around 150 hours less than before the recession, with an average of 1,650 hours. The bank said that senior lawyers were responsible for the reduced hours and that their rates averaged $787 per hour, with associates charging $519. The research also found that partners were providing most of the finance to run the business, with the average amount of partner-contributed capital held by firms up 7.3 per cent. Source: Wall Street Journal