Kent: This is nothing Fool.

Fool: Then it is like the breath of an unfee’d lawyer

King Lear, Act I, scene 4

Nothing is ever really new. Shakespeare wrote Lear more than 400 years ago. But issues with lawyers and lawyer’s fees plagued Elizabethan England as much as they vex the insurance industry today. I cite this vivid simile–“like the breath of an unfee’d lawyer”–because I like it,  and not to gripe about billing auditors and “write-downs” of time spent  in the coverage and defense world. The only real difference between London in, say, 1605, and today is that those who complain about legal fees use computer algorithms to identify their complaints.  But we embrace this age old issue and strive to get it right.

My only real message is this: Countless hours are spent in our world without regard to “fees.” To maintain a sharp edge in legal services, skills must be honed by reading widely; evaluating new technologies; staying current with the latest trends in law and medicine across the country; and, sharing that knowledge with clients and the defense and coverage bars. It is a matter of constant learning.

As Albert Einstein remarked, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” And that’s it for this This and That. But if you are curious about the breath of an unfee’d lawyer, I leave it to your imagination and I do not invite commentary.