The origins of Rationabilis
The literal meaning of “rationabilis” in latin is ‘thinking’ but the contextual meaning refers to ‘common sense’.
The Firm’s name was inspired by Baron Hoffman’s common sense principles of contractual interpretation which he set out in Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd. v West Bromwich Building Society [1997] UKHL 28 which reference the context within which the contract operates.
As a firm, we value the thinking lawyer and our experience tells us our clients do too. This is the lawyer who thinks independently, communicates clearly yet simply, acts with conviction, and who also fully understands the commercial context of the legal issue in question.
Often we have been on the other side of lawyers who do not apply common sense to a commercial negotiation or to resolve a commercial issue. This causes costs to escalate for all parties and often unnecessarily so. Applying common sense will save you time and ultimately fees.
By embracing an operating model with significantly lower overheads, that uses the latest technology to streamline workflows, and that does not have extravagant offices, the business could operate with substantially reduced costs.
Rationabilis can then pass those savings onto clients, without compromising on the quality of service clients enjoyed.
The current market environment lends itself to a leaner, more cost efficient firm. To quote PwC’s 2023 Law Firm Survey “firms will need to consider costs as part of a wider transformation of their future operating models…rising costs stand out in this year’s survey with both staff and support costs rising at a faster pace than fee income“.
