Outside Counsel and Legal Spend Optimization

Outside counsel spend gets expensive in predictable ways:

• rates drift upward quietly
• matters start without scope or budgets
• invoices arrive with vague descriptions and non-compliant charges
• disputes happen in email and never turn into recovered dollars

This collection installs a beginner-safe operating system that makes legal spend reviewable, enforceable, and measurable.

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Who this is for

• Finance leaders who need predictable spend and recoverable savings
• Procurement and operations teams supporting vendor governance
• Legal operations leaders who need a lightweight system that sticks

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What you will install

By the end of this collection you should have:

• billing guidelines that define what is and is not billable
• a rate card and discount policy with exception approvals
• a matter intake process with scope, budgets, and change control
• an invoice review and dispute workflow that tracks recovered value
• a leakage estimator to size the prize and align on priorities

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How to use this collection

Install in this order:

1. Legal billing guidelines starter pack
2. Outside counsel rate card and discount policy kit
3. Matter intake, scope, and budget controls kit
4. Legal invoice review and dispute workflow playbook
5. Legal invoice leakage estimator

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Beginner-safe definitions

Billing guidelines: rules for what can be billed, how entries must be written, and what evidence is required.

Rate card: a standard set of allowed hourly rates by role and seniority.

Matter: a piece of legal work with a scope, owner, and budget.

Leakage: spend that is avoidable or recoverable due to non-compliance, poor scoping, or process gaps.

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What good looks like

• every matter has a scope and budget before work starts
• invoice line items are descriptive and compliant
• non-compliant charges are rejected consistently
• recovered value is tracked, verified, and reported
• rates and discounts are governed, not negotiated ad hoc