Fixed-fee sprint

Spend Leakage Teardown

Take one invoice sample apart and show where the money goes.

The problem

Most matters run past their budget and the overage is discovered after it is billed. Your billing guidelines exist; enforcement is a person reading invoices under time pressure.

The evidence

  • 20%

    of matters stay within their outside counsel budget.

    Gartner, December 2025

  • 48%

    name staffing as their top constraint. Budget is 24%. Technology limits are 8% — the tools are rarely the problem.

    Thomson Reuters Legal Department Operations Report, 2026

What you get

  • Teardown of an agreed invoice sample, with leakage quantified by category
  • Billing guideline gaps, mapped to the lines that slipped through
  • Rate and staffing patterns by firm, described by shape rather than name where you prefer
  • Recovery and prevention actions, ranked by value and effort
  • The rules in a form your e-billing system or reviewer can apply

How it works

  1. WEEK 1

    Evidence

    Agree the sample and pull the data. Read the current guidelines and the last two review cycles.

  2. WEEK 2

    Baseline

    Tear the sample down line by line. Quantify by category: staffing, rates, block billing, scope creep, duplicate review.

  3. WEEK 3

    Prove

    Rank the actions, write the rules, and walk the findings through with you and, if you want, one firm.

Every engagement leaves an instrument behind. Here it is: A ruleset your reviewer applies to the next billing cycle.

What it costs

Fixed fee

3 weeks

Sprint fees are confirmed in writing when we scope the work, usually within one business day of your note.

What it does not include

We do not claw back invoices or negotiate with firms on your behalf, and we do not configure your e-billing platform in this sprint. The sample is a sample: it shows the pattern and sizes the problem, it is not an audit of every invoice.

What it typically leads to

  • Program

    Spend Intelligence

    Turn invoice data into decisions about firms, rates and staffing.

    Read more →

  • Program

    Operating Model & Transformation

    Fix how the work is staffed, routed and measured — not just the tools.

    Read more →
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Start here

Start with one sprint

Two to three weeks, one approver, a deliverable you keep. Tell us the problem and we'll come back within one business day with a scope, a date and a fee.

Scope a sprint →