What If Legal Pricing Reflected Value, Not Time? This UK Firm Is Showing the Way

How this leading UK firm is challenging the billable hour model and designing around client experience

When Adam Creasey and Benedict Cressey founded Adam Benedict in 2023, they made a deliberate choice to place the client at the center of all their decisions. Three years later, their model encompasses everything from pricing to process, and has meant embracing legal technology. 

Pricing, in particular, has become a focus for the firm. 

“We’re steering the firm as quickly and efficiently as possible away from the hourly rate model,” says Creasey.

 It’s a philosophy that resonates loudly in today’s legal market. According to Clio’s 2026 UK & Ireland Legal Insights Report, fixed or flat fees now account for 53% of all legal matters, compared to just 32% billed on an hourly basis. The era of hourly dominance has, by most measures, passed.

The shift reflects what clients increasingly expect. As Benedict Cressey notes, “More and more people that we’re coming across are asking straight away: ‘Do you do fixed fees?'” Hourly billing, with its unpredictability and opacity, has become misaligned with both client expectations and technology-driven workflows that allow lawyers to work faster than ever before.

Adam Benedict’s response is a flexible, tailored pricing menu that can include fixed fees, fee caps, value-based models, subscriptions, or hourly rates when genuinely appropriate. The subscription model, in particular, is something Creasey describes as a passion project. Dubbed the “Adam Benedict Membership,” the firm bundles in broader value rather than charging a flat monthly retainer: network access, speaking events, seminars, and introductions. It is, in his view, a fundamentally more collaborative way of working with clients, one where the relationship extends beyond individual transactions.

The Clio report confirms that transparent pricing does more than satisfy clients; it actively builds the trust that drives loyalty and referrals. Clients who understand what they’re paying for and why are less likely to dispute invoices, more likely to return, and more inclined to recommend the firm to others — a dynamic that Adam Benedict has capitalised on, growing its client base by 150% in just two years.

Technology has been the enabler making this model possible at scale. Adam Benedict adopted Clio as its core practice management platform from day one, using it to automate workflows, streamline billing, and give clients direct access to case updates and documents through a dedicated mobile portal. “I love the fact that clients get an app on their phone, just for a one-stop shop for their legal needs,” Creasey says.

That investment in technology reflects a broader trend sweeping UK and Irish legal practice. According to the Legal Insights Report, 89% of legal professionals now use AI tools in some capacity, with most having made the shift within the past year. The most commonly used applications include document drafting and automation (46%) and legal research platforms (44%). Firms report that AI enables them to respond to clients more quickly (81%), handle higher volumes of work without adding resources (78%), and improve the overall quality of their legal output (77%).

For Adam Benedict, technology isn’t simply an efficiency tool — it is the infrastructure that makes their entire client-centred vision operational. “Clio is a strategic partner,” says Benedict Cressey. “We couldn’t serve our client base without the way Clio’s set up.”

The results speak for themselves. From a two-person startup in a tiny office, the firm has grown to a team of 12 in the heart of the City of London, earned recognition among The Times Best UK Law Firms 2025, and achieved Top 20 status for Construction law.

In a profession where trust has eroded and clients are demanding more for their money, Adam Benedict’s model offers a compelling answer: transparent pricing, human-centred service, and technology that delivers on the promise.

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Download the 2026 UK & Ireland Legal Insights Report to explore how firms are adopting AI, evolving pricing models, and meeting changing client expectations.