[JURIST] A Pennsylvania judge has ruled [order, PDF] to allow Christian foster parent organization Bair Foundation [advocacy website] to proceed with its lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against the well-known law firm Reed Smith [firm website], rejecting four preliminary challenges by Reed Smith. The lawsuit alleges that Reed Smith overcharged Bair for representation in an employment discrimination lawsuit, billing Bair almost one million dollars despite originally telling the group that legal fees would only run $50,000. Bair asserted that the large firm model, which focuses on billable hours and pulling in large profits, is inappropriate for dealing with smaller nonprofit clients:

In implementing its ambitious strategy of capturing global clients, which Reed Smith boasts results in "a constant increase in revenue per partner," it has acknowledged that comparatively small regional or local law firms can or perhaps should service smaller clients. This is so because such firms typically charge much lower fees than "white shoe" international law firms like Reed Smith and are therefore more affordable to these smaller clients.

However, Reed Smith has inexplicably continued to represent certain much smaller clients which lack substantial financial resources, such as Bair, a not-for-profit charitable foundation.