Outside Counsel Guidelines
Written policies that define what a company will and will not pay for on law firm invoices, encompassing items like billing rates, timekeeper qualifications, expense reimbursement, and staffing standards.
What Are Outside Counsel Guidelines and Why Do You Need Them?
Without enforced outside counsel guidelines, even the most favorable negotiated rates fail to prevent overbilling. Law firms bill to the boundaries of what is tolerated, not what was agreed.
LegalBillReview.com develops, maintains, and enforces guidelines that give corporate legal departments a documented standard to apply to every invoice, closing the gap between what was negotiated and what is actually billed. Organizations without enforced guidelines consistently pay more than those with them, not because their rates are higher, but because there is no bill review process to catch charges that fall outside the agreed-upon terms, and enforcing OCGs is part of any successful bill review program.
LegalBillReview.com Outside Counsel Guidelines
At LegalBillReview.com, we specialize in helping organizations develop, maintain, and enforce tailored Outside Counsel Guidelines that work.
Develop
Many in-house teams operate without OCGs in place. As part of the engagement, we develop these guidelines, tailored to your unique organization and communicate this document to your law firms.
Maintain
As organizations evolve and the law firms that support them, so should the guidelines. Legalbillreview.com handles updates the OCGs on an annual basis, then communicate any updates to your law firms for transparency.
Enforce
Our analysts review against your guidelines ensuring transparency with your law firms along the way with accuracy as the ultimate goal.