"It's not as prevalent in New Orleans as it is on the East Coast, but it's where the legal industry is going," said Ray Lightell, chief operating officer at Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith.

Lightell and other local lawyers said they work with clients to establish agreeable fee structures, and billable hours are just one in a palette of available arrangements. But there isn't as much demand for alternatives in New Orleans as exists in larger markets, where economically challenged clients struggle to keep up with high hourly rates, Lightell said.

The billable hour is still prevalent at Lightell's firm "because that's how our clients want us to bill," he said. Those clients primarily are insurance firms, which use sophisticated software to track legal expenses, Lightell said. Such a system can make hourly legal rates more manageable, but some clients still prefer billing instruments such as success fees, which are a blend of hourly and fixed rates.

"Let's say a client gets sued for $1 million and the attorney estimates it's going to cost $200,000," Lightell said. "The attorney might say, 'You know, I'm only going to bill you hourly up to $100,000, and if we win you pay me $125,000. '"

Attorneys say the predictability of certain kinds of services, such as transactions and wills, makes them naturally suited to flat fees. But consumers of legal services are as diverse as the services themselves, and the attorney in Lightell's hypothetical scenario needs enough experience in a particular area to make a reasonable estimate.

Law firms are taking after the medical industry, with "specialists who practice a particular area," said Carol Todd Thomas, chief marketing officer with Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere and Denegre.

Thomas said it's important to customize billing as much as possible according to the needs of clients, all of whom have "their internal differences as far as budgets, costs, what they are tolerant of," Thomas said.

"It's a conversation you have with every client," she said.

Still, Thomas said her firm's clients often feel billable hours are more predictable than alternative arrangements. What's changing the most, she said, is scrutiny of the bill itself.

"They want everything itemized, they want to know what the costs are," Thomas said.

Jay Gulotta, head of litigation for Stone, Pigman, Walther, Wittmann, said the perception of an industrywide sea change in billing is a "gross exaggeration. "

"We haven't noticed a tremendous demand for this," Gulotta said. "What you see more of is a lot of competitive pressure on the hourly rate itself. "

Gulotta said his firm works on special arrangements in rare circumstances with particular clients.

"It leaves us all a little anxious and uncomfortable," Gulotta said.