Hourly billing is a fee structure where a legal or other professional adviser charges based on time recorded against a deal at agreed hourly rates, with the total cost determined by the hours actually worked. In Australian M&A, the majority of full-service law firms bill M&A transactions on an hourly basis, with partners typically charging $700 to $1,200 per hour and senior associates $500 to $800 per hour.
Hourly billing transfers the risk of complexity, scope creep, and counterparty difficulty to the client, because the final fee is determined retrospectively. Quoted “estimates” are not commitments.