If lawyers can offer flat fees for some things, why don’t they offer them for everything?

That’s a reasonable question. Flat-fee billing makes sense to a lot of clients—especially people used to transparent pricing in almost every other professional service. Why not law?

The short answer is this: some legal work just isn’t predictable enough.

When lawyers charge flat fees, they’re making a bet: that the work can be scoped, the time estimated, and the outcome delivered in a way that’s fair to both sides. That only works if the task itself is stable.

But many legal matters—especially in business—just don’t stay still long enough for that bet to be safe or fair.

Why Some Work Can’t Be Pre-Priced

Flat fees depend on clear scope. That means the job needs to be:

• Defined in advance
• Narrow enough to understand before it begins
• Unlikely to change as it goes

Some legal work fits that mold. Reviewing a standard agreement. Filing a trademark. Preparing a basic LLC formation.

But a lot of business law doesn’t. When facts are unclear, when negotiation points shift, or when a document needs to be tailored from scratch, the time required becomes hard to predict. That’s not a billing issue—it’s a structure issue.

If the scope can’t be seen clearly up front, a flat fee turns into a gamble. And that often doesn’t serve either party.

A Note on Trust

One reason clients like flat fees is because they’ve been burned by the alternative.

Hourly billing can feel opaque or out of control. A phone call turns into an invoice. A quick question leads to follow-up work, which leads to a surprise charge. The client’s not sure what’s fair, and the lawyer doesn’t always explain.

That’s not a problem with the billing model. That’s a problem with the relationship.

When flat fees work, they offer relief from that ambiguity. But when they don’t fit—and lawyers try to force them anyway—things can get worse, not better. Scope creep sets in. Expectations diverge. And trust erodes.

An Honest Example

Suppose a founder sends you a SAFE agreement, and you want legal eyes on it before you invest. That’s a clean job. If the document is standard, I can review it, send you a written readout, and charge a flat fee that reflects the size and complexity of the work.

But if that SAFE turns out to be custom, or the founder adds a side letter, or you want to negotiate better terms—now the job’s different. It’s no longer a standard review. It’s not even clear where the job ends.

At that point, a flat fee stops making sense—not because the lawyer wants to charge more, but because the work can’t be boxed in.

So What Should You Look For?

A good lawyer won’t try to sell you a pricing structure that doesn’t fit.

They’ll tell you when a flat fee makes sense, and when it doesn’t. They’ll define the scope, explain the variables, and show you how pricing aligns with the real work—not just the best-case version of it.

That’s not about billing style. That’s about professional judgment.

Bottom Line

Flat fees are useful tools. But they only work when the legal work is stable, defined, and repeatable.

When that’s true, a flat fee brings real clarity. When it’s not, it’s better to have an honest conversation about scope, structure, and what the job actually requires.

The goal—always—is transparency. Not just in pricing, but in expectations.

And that starts with understanding why law, like the work it supports, doesn’t always fit inside a box.