Director, Pricing & Client Value

# Director of Pricing & Client Value

## About the Role

McCarter & English is seeking a commercially minded, strategic, and highly collaborative Director of Pricing & Client Value to help shape how the firm prices, scopes, manages, and delivers legal services in an increasingly competitive legal market. This Director-level role is focused on improving transparency, strengthening client relationships, supporting disciplined matter execution, and aligning pricing strategy with the firm’s broader growth priorities.

Working closely with the Chief Strategy Officer, firm leadership, practice leaders, attorneys, and client teams, the Director of Pricing & Client Value will serve as a trusted advisor on commercial strategy, matter economics, alternative fee arrangements, client value initiatives, and pricing best practices. This is a highly visible role with both internal and external impact, requiring strong business judgment, legal industry knowledge, analytical skills, and the ability to influence stakeholders across the firm.

The role sits at the intersection of pricing, matter strategy, client value, and firm profitability. The successful candidate will translate market expectations and client needs into practical, sustainable approaches that support growth, strengthen client trust, and help the firm deliver legal services with greater clarity, discipline, and value.

## Key Responsibilities

### Pricing Strategy & Commercial Leadership

* Develop and lead pricing strategies that align with the firm’s business goals, client expectations, market trends, and profitability objectives.
* Partner with the Chief Strategy Officer and firm leadership to advance commercial strategy across practices, industry groups, and key client relationships.
* Advise attorneys and practice leaders on pricing models, matter budgets, fee structures, client proposals, and value-based approaches.
* Support the development of disciplined pricing practices that improve transparency, consistency, competitiveness, and financial performance.
* Evaluate pricing opportunities and risks across litigation, transactional, regulatory, advisory, and other legal service areas.
* Help attorneys frame pricing discussions in a way that supports client trust, business development, and long-term relationship growth.

### Matter Scoping, Budgeting & Economics

* Work with attorneys and client teams to scope matters, develop budgets, analyze assumptions, and identify key drivers of cost, value, and profitability.
* Support the creation of matter plans, work breakdown structures, phased budgets, and resource models.
* Monitor matter performance against budgets and identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
* Provide guidance on matter staffing, leverage, efficiency, and delivery models that support both client value and firm economics.
* Collaborate with finance and practice leadership to assess margin, realization, utilization, and profitability considerations.
* Help build repeatable tools, templates, and processes for matter scoping, budgeting, and pricing analysis.

### Alternative Fee Arrangements & Value-Based Pricing

* Design, evaluate, and support alternative fee arrangements, including fixed fees, capped fees, phased fees, success-based fees, portfolio pricing, retainers, subscriptions, and hybrid models.
* Analyze historical matter data, staffing patterns, prior budgets, and financial outcomes to inform pricing recommendations.
* Support attorneys in preparing client-facing explanations for pricing structures and value propositions.
* Help negotiate and refine pricing approaches that balance client needs, competitive positioning, risk, and firm profitability.
* Track the performance of alternative fee arrangements and recommend adjustments based on results and lessons learned.

### Client Value & Relationship Support

* Partner with client relationship teams to identify ways to improve service delivery, communication, predictability, and perceived value.
* Support strategic client conversations related to pricing, budgeting, matter management, legal operations, and service expectations.
* Help develop client-facing materials that communicate value, efficiency, pricing rationale, and matter management discipline.
* Work with attorneys to understand client priorities, legal operations requirements, outside counsel guidelines, and reporting expectations.
* Contribute to client feedback initiatives, value reviews, panel submissions, RFP responses, and relationship planning.
* Identify opportunities to strengthen client loyalty through improved transparency, predictability, and business alignment.

### Practice & Firm Collaboration

* Serve as a strategic resource for practice group leaders, industry teams, business development professionals, finance teams, and firm leadership.
* Collaborate with attorneys and administrative leaders to integrate pricing strategy into business development, client planning, and matter management processes.
* Provide guidance and training to attorneys on pricing conversations, matter budgeting, alternative fee arrangements, and client value principles.
* Help create a culture of commercial discipline, informed decision-making, and proactive client service.
* Translate complex financial and pricing information into clear, practical recommendations for attorneys and firm leaders.
* Support cross-functional initiatives involving finance, business development, knowledge management, project management, and legal operations.

### Data, Reporting & Process Improvement

* Use matter data, financial metrics, market insights, and client feedback to guide pricing recommendations and strategic decisions.
* Develop dashboards, reports, and analyses that help leadership evaluate pricing performance, matter economics, and client value trends.
* Identify opportunities to improve pricing processes, matter intake, budgeting workflows, approval procedures, and performance tracking.
* Support the implementation and improvement of pricing tools, templates, systems, and data resources.
* Monitor legal industry trends related to pricing, legal operations, client value, transparency, and service delivery innovation.
* Recommend practical improvements that enhance efficiency, consistency, profitability, and client satisfaction.

## Qualifications

* Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Accounting, Legal Management, or a related field required.
* Advanced degree, MBA, JD, or relevant professional certification preferred.
* Significant experience in law firm pricing, legal operations, finance, business development, client value, practice management, or professional services strategy.
* Strong understanding of law firm economics, matter profitability, billing models, realization, leverage, utilization, and client pricing expectations.
* Experience developing matter budgets, pricing models, alternative fee arrangements, and client-facing commercial proposals.
* Ability to work effectively with attorneys, senior leadership, practice leaders, client teams, finance professionals, and business development teams.
* Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret financial data, identify trends, and translate analysis into practical recommendations.
* Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
* Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced professional services environment.
* High degree of professionalism, discretion, judgment, and credibility.
* Proficiency with Excel and financial analysis tools required.
* Experience with law firm financial systems, pricing platforms, CRM systems, business intelligence tools, or matter management systems preferred.

## Preferred Experience

* Prior experience in a law firm, legal services organization, corporate legal department, or professional services firm.
* Experience supporting RFPs, panel proposals, client pitches, and strategic client relationships.
* Familiarity with legal project management, legal operations, outside counsel guidelines, and client value programs.
* Experience working directly with partners or senior attorneys on pricing strategy and client negotiations.
* Demonstrated success building pricing frameworks, templates, reports, or scalable commercial processes.
* Knowledge of competitive legal market trends, including client demand for transparency, predictability, efficiency, and measurable value.

## Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a commercially focused professional who understands both the business of law and the expectations of sophisticated clients. This person is comfortable advising attorneys on pricing strategy, matter economics, and client value while maintaining a practical, collaborative, and service-oriented approach.

The successful candidate will bring strong analytical ability, sound judgment, and the confidence to influence senior stakeholders. They should be able to balance client expectations with firm profitability, translate data into actionable guidance, and help attorneys make informed commercial decisions. This individual should be proactive, organized, credible, and capable of operating effectively in a highly visible role.

## Key Competencies

* Law firm pricing strategy
* Client value leadership
* Matter budgeting and scoping
* Alternative fee arrangements
* Commercial strategy
* Legal project management
* Financial analysis
* Profitability analysis
* Client relationship support
* Practice group collaboration
* Executive-level communication
* Strategic thinking
* Data-driven decision-making
* Process improvement
* Business development support
* Change management
* Professional services leadership

## Compensation & Benefits

McCarter & English offers a competitive compensation and benefits package based on experience, qualifications, and location. Benefits may include medical, dental, and vision insurance, retirement plan options, paid time off, professional development opportunities, and additional firm-sponsored benefits.

## Equal Opportunity Statement

McCarter & English is an equal opportunity employer. The firm is committed to fostering a professional environment that values respect, collaboration, and equal opportunity. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, business needs, and individual merit.