Levi’s Is Paying Orrick a Flat Fee to Handle All But Its IP Work

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe is earning a flat fee to handle all of the legal work worldwide for Levi Strauss & Co., with just one exception.

Levi’s is paying Orrick an annual fee in monthly increments for all but its brand protection work, the Recorder (sub. req.) reports. Townsend and Townsend and Crew is handling that aspect of Levi’s legal business. If work needs to be done where Orrick doesn’t have an office, it will hire an outside law firm at its own expense.

The arrangement is unusual because it is so all-encompassing, according to Frederick Krebs, president of the Association of Corporate Counsel. "It is still news when a big firm and a big company do a significant amount of work or transactions in that way," Krebs told the Recorder.

Orrick wouldn’t disclose how much the Levi’s deal is worth, but the story calls the deal a “multimillion-dollar arrangement.” Twenty-five percent of revenue comes from alternative billing.

Orrick partner Karen Johnson-McKewan worked out the details of the deal. "The core principle that we're operating with here is that we're trusting each other,” she told the Recorder. “We all are committed to doing whatever we can to make it work. We know there will be bits and pieces where it may not."