If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering why hiring a commercial litigation lawyer or business litigation attorney costs so much. $695 an hour? $1,500 at some firms? Really? Do these lawyers just bill outrageous fees, buy themselves a BMW, and pocket the rest?
It’s a fair question.
We’re not here to defend the excesses of the legal profession—they exist, and we know it. Even Jesus said, “Woe to you lawyers” (Luke 11:46). And Shakespeare wasn’t exactly our PR guy either (“First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”). But despite the jokes, there are reasons litigation costs what it does.
We’re a faith-based public benefit law firm founded on catholic social teaching. We’re not cheap, but we’re not cashing out with seven-figure bonuses either. We run lean. We fight hard. And yes, we use our commercial practice to fund our pro bono and public interest work. Still, even with our model, which is deliberately not profit maximizing, litigation isn’t cheap to deliver.
Here’s why.
The Legal Talent Market Is Fierce
Let’s start with the lawyers themselves. Walk into any law school, ask the first five students you meet why they’re there, and you’ll get a mix of idealism and ambition:
- Some want to become judges.
- Others dream of arguing landmark cases that shape society.
- A few want to be the next Atticus Finch.
- A couple want to be the next big trial lawyer, arguing for the underdog and making millions in the process.
- And many want to climb the BigLaw ladder, handling high-stakes deals that make headlines.
Nobody says, “I’m in law school to become a Delaware commercial litigation lawyer and help a medium sized company in Wilmington enforce a contract in Delaware Superior Court,” but that’s what a lot of us end up doing. And to do it well? You need range. You need to be a writer, a strategist, a negotiator, a crisis manager, and occasionally a therapist.
It takes years to get good. First there’s undergrad. Then the LSAT. Then three years of law school (often with six-figure debt). Then the bar exam. Then years of apprenticeship—clerkships, government jobs, BigLaw training. Most commercial litigators spend seven to ten years learning before they’re trusted to run a complex case solo.
And it’s not just the years—it’s the daily grind. Being a lawyer is hard, not just intellectually, but physically and emotionally. In the private sector, 12-hour days aren’t outliers—they’re normal. At EJS, we’re not a sweatshop, but we’re also not a lifestyle firm. Our lawyers work hard because the work demands it. You have to be innovative, but also respect hierarchy. You need to write like an academic and think like a tactician. You need the focus to work in silence for hours, then the presence to lead a tense boardroom or calm an anxious client. You must show empathy to witnesses—and (ethically) show no mercy to opposing counsel.
And then, on top of all that, you need to learn fast. Really fast. Deposing a medical expert? You’ll need to go toe-to-toe with someone who’s spent their life in a specific research niche—after just a few hours of prep.
Cross-examining a PhD economist? Better be ready to punch holes in a regression analysis when you barely passed college math. All while under scrutiny from a judge who could fine or imprison you, an opposing counsel whose job is to make you look foolish, and a client who’s paying real money and watching everything.
The versatility is staggering. Nobody expects a surgeon to be charming. Nobody tells a sales executive to sit in silence and write 30 pages with perfect footnotes. Nobody asks a software engineer to debug in front of an angry crowd. But lawyers? That’s the job. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Unfortunately, this is why many lawyers burn out, quit the profession, struggle with substance abuse and mental health issues, get divorced, and even, in the worst cases, lose their soul. (Mark 8:36).
As I said, this isn’t a post about how bad lawyers have it. Instead, these are all factors that go into the labor market. Experienced business litigators are in short supply and high demand. Salaries reflect that reality. In mid-sized markets, it’s common to see base compensation at $150,000 to $200,000. In top firms in top cities, that number goes up to $300,000 and beyond. And if that lawyer has a book of business? Forget it. You’d have an easier time managing Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.
So when you hire a business litigation lawyer, you’re not just paying for someone who knows how to write a brief. You’re paying for someone who can navigate $10 million fiduciary duty cases in Delaware Chancery Court, complex promissory note disputes in Manhattan, or shareholder squeeze-outs in Pennsylvania. You’re hiring the equivalent of a legal special operator. And those don’t come cheap.
The Infrastructure Behind Every Case Is Massive
It’s not just lawyers. The talent market for paralegals is arguably even tougher.
There’s no real standard across the industry. Some paralegals have formal certificates. Some don’t. Every firm has to train them from scratch. And the good ones? They’re not just administrators.
Smart paralegals are pseudo-lawyers. They spot issues. They exercise judgment. They keep timelines moving and ensure filings are accurate. It takes intelligence, initiative, and a level of composure under pressure that most people don’t associate with “support” staff.
And they need to be paid accordingly. The catch? Many of the best ones go on to become lawyers themselves.
We’re always on the hunt for good support staff—people who want to grow, who are hungry to learn, and who bring a serious work ethic. Because litigation isn’t a solo sport. It takes a team.
Unlike manufacturers, law firms don’t sell physical products. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t serious overhead costs.
Behind every litigation matter is a hidden ecosystem: high-end legal databases like Westlaw or Lexis, practice management systems, document review platforms, and secure cloud storage capable of handling tens of thousands of files. We pay for cybersecurity, compliance software, calendaring tools, and encrypted communications platforms.
Need to collect, search, and review thousands of documents? That’s e-discovery. It often requires third-party vendors with dedicated platforms and processing fees. Need transcripts from depositions? Court reporters and videographers aren’t free. Need to scan through a decade of financial statements? Someone’s got to do that, and do it fast and right.
And let’s not forget trust accounting. Law firms are tightly regulated. If we accept a $150,000 retainer, we must safeguard it in a trust account, track every disbursement to the penny, and be ready for an audit at any time. We also carry malpractice insurance, pay for continuing legal education, and maintain compliance logs for every lawyer on the team.
This infrastructure doesn’t just appear overnight. And before you know it, we are spending thousands of dollars in case management software.
How do we keep track of hundreds of deadlines across dozens of matters? How do we make sure discovery is timely, that we follow up with witnesses, or that the right person is staffed on the right motion? Where do we log our time and ensure a case has enough resources allocated to it? None of that just happens. It requires integrated, advanced systems that coordinate communication, calendaring, billing, document retention, and task management.
The same is true for legal research. Gone are the days when you could flip through a few books and find what you needed. Today, deep research requires high-powered AI tools, state-of-the-art search platforms, and a team trained to use them.
We invest not just in the software but in the training that makes those tools effective. Because missing a controlling case or misreading a rule change isn’t just inconvenient—it’s malpractice.. It costs real money to run a litigation practice responsibly.
Legal Training Doesn’t Stop After Law School
A business litigation lawyer who hasn’t kept up with changes in the law is a risk to your case. Think about it—don’t you expect your lawyer to be up to speed on new statutes, court decisions, and procedural rules?
That kind of currency doesn’t come easy. Court decisions are issued every week. For a multijurisdictional firm like ours—operating within America’s sprawling federal system—that means tracking dozens of courts, each with its own rules, procedures, and institutional culture. And then comes the real work: translating those changes into practical strategy for our clients.
Technology makes everything move faster. Electronically stored information (ESI) completely transformed how we handle discovery. And just as the profession began to digest ESI protocols, the AI revolution arrived. Clients now expect us to use artificial intelligence to streamline work—while judges threaten sanctions for misuse. The learning curve is steep, and there’s no margin for error.
All of this demands time, energy, vigilance, and systems to stay on top of it. And don’t even get us started on cybersecurity.
At a serious firm, this means regular internal training sessions, subscriptions to legal research and industry updates, and time spent mentoring younger lawyers. Senior attorneys peer-review each other’s work. We talk through strategy. We workshop tone. We double-check the facts, the law, and the optics—because we know how high the stakes are.
Most of this time isn’t billable. But it’s absolutely necessary if we’re going to deliver the kind of representation our clients deserve.
Litigation Is Warfare Without Bloodshed
People forget that litigation is warfare without bloodshed. I don’t say this hyperbolically. I served as a U.S. Army Captain for eight years. The parallels are real.
In litigation, there are smart, determined people on the other side. They may not want to physically harm you (hopefully), but they want to humiliate you, take your money, take your business, and crush your will to fight. That’s their job. And it’s our job to stop them.
That means everything has to be double- or even triple-checked. We conduct internal war games. We bring in other lawyers to role-play as opposing counsel. We stress test arguments, simulate objections, and run through different strategic moves like a command post preparing for battle.
And despite all of that planning, surprises still happen. So we plan for those, too.
This is not form-over-substance litigation. It is strategic conflict, where timing, tone, and tactical decision-making matter deeply. And winning often comes down to the side that was better prepared.
Clients Rightly Expect Premium Service
When you hire a lawyer to fight for your business, you’re not just hiring a technician—you’re hiring a team to deliver high-level, responsive service. And you deserve it.
Most commercial clients expect fast updates, clear strategy conversations, prompt responses to urgent emails, and the ability to coordinate across teams—co-counsel, boards of directors, internal compliance officers, outside consultants. And you should.
But premium service takes time, people, and careful orchestration. A last-minute hearing might mean rescheduling half a day’s work, drafting emergency filings, and coordinating with a judge’s chambers—all before lunch. Add in multiple jurisdictions, complicated data, and high stakes, and the pace gets intense.
And just when you feel like you’re gaining ground, your inbox lights up with 50 emails from clients asking for updates. To be clear—that’s entirely fair. If I were the client, I’d do the same. But it adds another layer of time pressure, which drives cost.
This isn’t a complaint. It’s the reality. And it’s part of what you’re paying for: professionals who can deliver real-time, thoughtful legal work while keeping the lines of communication open under stress.
Emotional Labor Is Part of the Job
This one rarely makes the invoices, but it’s real. When litigation gets heated, lawyers carry more than legal burdens.
We absorb late-night phone calls from anxious clients. We manage volatile conversations with opposing counsel. We respond to judges who want answers now. And we do it with composure, so you don’t have to carry that weight.
This emotional labor is part of what you’re paying for: someone who can stay calm under pressure, make clear decisions, and absorb the anxiety of others while still moving the case forward. That skill is rare. It’s learned through fire. And it’s part of why experienced litigators are in short supply.
Most lawyers try to avoid talking about this part. But at Equal Justice Solutions, we view legal services as an opportunity to spread God’s love—rooted in our ecumenical Christian mission. That doesn’t mean preaching at people. It means treating each person with dignity, listening with patience, and speaking truthfully, even when the news is hard.
But we’d be lying if we said that kind of service didn’t take time and bandwidth. Sometimes, it means sitting with an entrepreneur who’s better off walking away from a fight they want to pursue. Sometimes it means telling someone who’s been scammed—say, in a fake “security-backed line of credit” scheme—that they don’t actually have a viable legal claim. That conversation takes time, care, and clarity.
Even in more colorable cases, we owe it to clients and prospective clients to walk through the costs, the risks, the probabilities. A lot of that work—listening, processing, advising—isn’t chargeable. But it’s still real. And it’s still necessary, if we’re going to practice law with integrity.
So, Is It Worth It?
Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. Litigation should never be pursued lightly.
At our firm, we tell clients upfront when a case isn’t worth the fight. We look at the economics. We assess the emotional cost. We try to keep people out of court when we can. But when the stakes justify it—when the dispute is real, the harm is significant, and the law is on your side—litigation can be a powerful tool for accountability.
It just isn’t cheap. And now, hopefully, you understand why.
If you want to understand whether your business dispute is worth pursuing, see our companion post: Is My Commercial Litigation Case Worth It?
Equal Justice Solutions is a public benefit law firm and apostolate founded on catholic social teachings that uses high-level commercial litigation to fund impact-driven legal services. We believe in justice for all—even in the boardroom.