All general counsel think about getting discounts from at least some of their law firms. Two collections of posts here have addressed many considerations about discounts (See my post of Nov. 26, 2006: discounts with 15 references; and Jan. 21, 2008: 10 more posts on variations on discounts.).
I even contributed an article for Legal Times on several problems with discounted billing, which you can read here. Click here for a PDF of the article.
The onslaught of my posts on discounts continues. A dozen more are available (See my post of Dec. 11, 2006: discounts on billing rates; Jan. 19, 2008: volume discounts at British Columbia Transmission; June 20, 2007: Circuit City’s 3% discount for payment within 30 days; March 11, 2007: increased frequency of discounting; Jan. 28, 2008: rebates are harder to administer; Dec. 18, 2006: ripples from discounts; June 30, 2007: test to see if discounts achieve savings; March 2, 2008 #3: rate increases perhaps build in expected discounts; April 8, 2008: rate freezes are better than discounts; April 13, 2008: effect on firm margins; Aug. 15, 2008: percentage of bills discounted; and Nov. 21, 2008: converge if you can get volume discounts.).