Had to choose between flat fee and hourly for my first contract gig, picked wrong and lost $400

Last month I got asked to draft a simple partnership agreement for a small business in Portland. Guy offered me $800 flat or $75 an hour. I took the flat fee thinking it would be quick. Three revisions and two phone calls later I was at 12 hours of work. Should have gone hourly. Has anyone else had this backfire on a freelance legal job?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver_baker495h ago

Buddy of mine who does contract paralegal work took a flat $600 for what he thought was just a quick business formation filing. Ended up being a nonprofit with complicated bylaws and IRS exemption stuff. He spent a whole weekend and part of Monday untangling the client's email chain where they changed their mind on three different board structures. He told me next time he's taking the hourly even if the client gets grumpy about it.

brian_hart3h ago

Had a plumber friend quote a flat rate for a toilet replacement and then found out the homeowner had a weird custom tile floor that took half a day just to get through. Flat rates are a gamble every time.