Wow. I was impressed with this lawyer.

She spoke to a family law continuing education program I attended. She did a great job with her presentation, and the audience paid rapt attention.

She presented the law and put it in context. She gave us very practical approaches to applying what she taught. She tied it all together with great stories about our local court system and judges. She was simultaneously interesting, entertaining, and educational.

Since I suffer from an inability to focus, I spent part of her presentation looking her up on the Internet. I read her bio and studied her website. I looked at reviews about her across the web. She’s doing a good job on all fronts.

As I reviewed her site, I found information about her pricing. She’s pretty specific about what it costs to hire her. She charges fixed fees for some of her services and hourly fees for others. Even when she bills hourly, she provides a specific range for the fee. She’s being very helpful to her prospective clients. They know what she costs before they call her office.

Then I looked carefully at the fees. They’re low. She’s offering a free consultation. Her hourly rate is low for her experience level. The range of fees provided gave me the sense that she’s charging about half of what she’s worth.

She’s not being compensated for the value she’s delivering.

Calculating Your Value

Here’s what we’ve got:

• She has excellent legal skills as demonstrated by her presentation and by the great stories she tells.
• She has substantial depth of expertise, so much so that a prestigious group asked her to speak.
• She’s offering free consultations.
• She’s charging discounted fees.

Why is this excellent lawyer with a very solid reputation presenting herself to the public as a cheap lawyer?

If I asked her, and I’m not going to do that, she’d likely talk about access to legal services for people of modest means. She’d probably talk about her mission to serve. She’d probably talk about the need to protect those she represents and the need to keep money from interfering with their decision-making process.

The fact that she has passion for the work, for the people she represents, and for her mission makes her even more valuable. Those qualities make her even better at what she’s doing.

But she’s not seeing her value. She’s missing it.

The Undervalue Proposition

I’d look at her and wonder whether she understands her value to her clients. I’d know that she doesn’t connect her knowledge, skill, and experience with the importance of those qualities to her clients. I’d wonder whether she believes in herself.

That’s what would really grab my attention—that single question—does she believe in herself?

She’s doing good things for good people. She’s a good person. But, one day, when she doesn’t have the funds to pay for her children’s education or to start a charity helping kids in Haiti like Road to Hope (started by a lawyer and his wife), she’ll regret not recognizing her value.

Those fees she failed to collect won’t be put away in her retirement plan. It’ll be too late to go back and get what she was worth when she slows down and the clients are long gone. She’ll regret not recognizing her value.

One day, she’s going to regret not believing in herself.

Sure, it’s important to do good and help others. But, at the same time, it’s important to be compensated for the work you’re doing. It’s fair, it’s reasonable, and it’s expected by those receiving the value she offers.

Do you see yourself in her? Do you worry about whether you’re worth what it costs to hire you? Do you believe in yourself?