Eight Ways To Save Money On Legal Fees

Some may wonder why a partner in a major law firm is going to tell you how to save money on litigation legal expenses. The answer is simple. My job, first and foremost, is to obtain the best possible result for my clients. In my view (and the view of my colleagues), achieving the best result includes cost efficiency and cost effectiveness. Over the course of 18 years, I have had a front row seat to a wide range of client approaches to managing ' or not managing ' legal fees. The keys to controlling costs in major litigation are as follows:

1. Be Clear On Your Goals And The Possible Outcomes Of The Litigation

It is critically important to devote time at the commencement of litigation to defining clear goals and understanding the possible outcomes of a litigation. Indeed, there should be a face-to-face meeting at the commencement of any litigation matter to review the client's objectives, the major facts, the options available and the probable outcomes of the various options. While it will result in some additional cost up front, you should ask your lawyer for a reasonably detailed written summary of these items as well as an analysis of the strength of the legal claims involves. This will force everyone involved to think through the strategy together at an early point in the case and document the goals to be achieved. It also provides a strategic reference point as the case progresses. In some cases where there are emergency issues (for example the need for an injunction or the need to defeat a request for an injunction), there may not be time to complete a written analysis first. However, in such cases, the written analysis can be done as soon as possible thereafter.

2. Obtain A Written Budget

Lawyers do not like preparing litigation budgets for a very good reason. Litigation is inherently unpredictable and the budget can be affected by multiple factors beyond the attorneys' control including (but definitely not limited to): misguided judicial rulings, scheduling issues and, most commonly, discovery shenanigans by your opponent. For this reason, most budgets will necessarily set forth a range and will reserve a right of revision. Still, you should require a budget and you should ask your attorney to alert you immediately if it appears that the cost is likely to significantly depart from the budget.

3. Perform As Much Work As Possible In-House

Probably the single biggest avoidable cost inflator is failure to properly support the litigation in-house with respect to discovery. The direct involvement of your own employees who know your business in this process will save substantial dollars and also provide a strategic advantage. For example, in the course of any large-scale litigation, the largest task is likely to be the assembly, review and organization of documents, both those to be produced by you and those produced by your opponent. It is highly inefficient for a lawyer (or lawyers) on their own, to review thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of business documents, page by page, and to identify which documents must be produced in response to discovery requests and the key documents on which you or your opponent will likely rely for deposition or trial. Involving an employee (or employees) who know the business and can become familiar with the legal dispute in the nitty gritty of paper and document discovery results in an efficient process and also maximizes your attorneys' familiarity with, and understanding of, the detailed factual landscape of the case.

In fact, in a massive document case, it makes sense to devote one or more employees to this task. Why does it save money? An employee familiar with the company can quickly identify what documents may exist that are responsive to document requests and can categorize or label them on production. The employee can then work with counsel to perhaps eliminate whole groups of documents from line item review and can target categories for intensive review. In some cases, having an employee present as you review documents and as questions arise is the most cost effective, efficient way to marshal the critical facts in a case and identify and organize the documents that really matter. Likewise, with interrogatory responses, employees can often do a draft of the factual responses under the guidance of a lawyer.

In most cases, the cost to you of an employee devoting 4-6 months to a major litigation is going to be substantially less than the cost of an attorney on an hourly basis performing those same tasks alone. The investment of your employee resources will improve both the substance and the bottom line in most major litigations.

4. Utilize Technology

In a major document case, particularly one that is likely to be tried, it makes a lot of sense to incur the cost of imaging the documents into a searchable database at the inception of the case. Why? For one example, if you are preparing for the deposition of “Frank Smith” you can identify with a few key strokes every document with Frank Smith's name on it and you can further narrow that to a particular time period. The same search manually could potentially take hours or even days. At a deposition or trial, the attorney can call up documents that might be mentioned in testimony immediately for the purposes of cross-examination or impeachment. The cost of imaging can be significant, but the failure to do it in a document intensive case is usually penny wise and pound foolish. Having searchable access to the documents and their contents will save substantial costs over the course of the case and provide a strategic advantage over your opponent.

5. Ask To Be Informed Of Every Substantive Step

In the course of a hotly contested litigation there will be hundreds of material events ' you should know about every one of them. You should also know about the possible options available to you and the reasons for a particular option that your attorney may be suggesting. For one example, your attorney may think that it is imperative to prepare a motion to compel certain discovery that the other side is refusing to provide. However, you may know that the documents that the attorney is trying to obtain are not important enough to justify the cost of the motion or that the same information can be found or accessed through another route. One efficient way to accomplish this step is simply an e-mail system. Ask the partner in charge or senior associate on the case to send you a short e-mail each time there is a material event in the litigation.

While you should be informed about, participate in and understand the reasons for various actions in the litigation, it is important that you not try to micromanage your attorney on the conduct of the litigation. You have retained an attorney for their expertise, experience and judgment ' don't second guess it. If you do, you will merely add to your cost unnecessarily.

6. Understand How The Case Is Staffed

Ask the lawyer at the inception of the case how it will be staffed. You should know who will be working on the case, their experience levels and their billing rate. Ideally, you should arrange to meet the attorneys who will be involved in the case. In a typical larger scale litigation, there will be one or more partners, senior associates and junior associates involved. Different types of work can be performed most efficiently at different levels of experience. For example, legal research is generally most efficiently performed at more junior levels while deposition preparation can often (but not always) be more efficiently performed at a more senior associate level. The partner on the case is undoubtedly mindful of assigning the work to ensure greatest success, competence and efficiency. However, it never hurts to expressly ask that the goal of efficiency be kept in the forefront as the litigation progresses.

7. Regularly Communicate About The Status Of The Case

In any significant litigation, you should establish a regular telephone conference with the partner in charge about the status of the case (on a bi-weekly or monthly basis). This provides an opportunity for both you and the lawyer to step back from the often highly intense daily activity on the case to consider its progress, strategy and trajectory including, for example, opportunities for settlement. Regular communication provides for accountability.

8. Maintain Good Relations

Your lawyer is your business partner. Every lawyer with whom I have worked at my firm has their client's best interests in mind, wants to get the best possible result and will move heaven and earth to get there. Accordingly, while you should expect and require accountability and efficiency, as discussed above, remember that a cordial, respectful atmosphere between client and lawyer (including the most junior lawyers on the case) is, without question, the best environment to maximize results and efficiency.

Some may wonder why a partner in a major law firm is going to tell you how to save money on litigation legal expenses. The answer is simple. My job, first and foremost, is to obtain the best possible result for my clients. In my view (and the view of my colleagues), achieving the best result includes cost efficiency and cost effectiveness. Over the course of 18 years, I have had a front row seat to a wide range of client approaches to managing ' or not managing ' legal fees. The keys to controlling costs in major litigation are as follows:

1. Be Clear On Your Goals And The Possible Outcomes Of The Litigation

It is critically important to devote time at the commencement of litigation to defining clear goals and understanding the possible outcomes of a litigation. Indeed, there should be a face-to-face meeting at the commencement of any litigation matter to review the client's objectives, the major facts, the options available and the probable outcomes of the various options. While it will result in some additional cost up front, you should ask your lawyer for a reasonably detailed written summary of these items as well as an analysis of the strength of the legal claims involves. This will force everyone involved to think through the strategy together at an early point in the case and document the goals to be achieved. It also provides a strategic reference point as the case progresses. In some cases where there are emergency issues (for example the need for an injunction or the need to defeat a request for an injunction), there may not be time to complete a written analysis first. However, in such cases, the written analysis can be done as soon as possible thereafter.

2. Obtain A Written Budget

Lawyers do not like preparing litigation budgets for a very good reason. Litigation is inherently unpredictable and the budget can be affected by multiple factors beyond the attorneys' control including (but definitely not limited to): misguided judicial rulings, scheduling issues and, most commonly, discovery shenanigans by your opponent. For this reason, most budgets will necessarily set forth a range and will reserve a right of revision. Still, you should require a budget and you should ask your attorney to alert you immediately if it appears that the cost is likely to significantly depart from the budget.

3. Perform As Much Work As Possible In-House

Probably the single biggest avoidable cost inflator is failure to properly support the litigation in-house with respect to discovery. The direct involvement of your own employees who know your business in this process will save substantial dollars and also provide a strategic advantage. For example, in the course of any large-scale litigation, the largest task is likely to be the assembly, review and organization of documents, both those to be produced by you and those produced by your opponent. It is highly inefficient for a lawyer (or lawyers) on their own, to review thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of business documents, page by page, and to identify which documents must be produced in response to discovery requests and the key documents on which you or your opponent will likely rely for deposition or trial. Involving an employee (or employees) who know the business and can become familiar with the legal dispute in the nitty gritty of paper and document discovery results in an efficient process and also maximizes your attorneys' familiarity with, and understanding of, the detailed factual landscape of the case.

In fact, in a massive document case, it makes sense to devote one or more employees to this task. Why does it save money? An employee familiar with the company can quickly identify what documents may exist that are responsive to document requests and can categorize or label them on production. The employee can then work with counsel to perhaps eliminate whole groups of documents from line item review and can target categories for intensive review. In some cases, having an employee present as you review documents and as questions arise is the most cost effective, efficient way to marshal the critical facts in a case and identify and organize the documents that really matter. Likewise, with interrogatory responses, employees can often do a draft of the factual responses under the guidance of a lawyer.

In most cases, the cost to you of an employee devoting 4-6 months to a major litigation is going to be substantially less than the cost of an attorney on an hourly basis performing those same tasks alone. The investment of your employee resources will improve both the substance and the bottom line in most major litigations.

4. Utilize Technology

In a major document case, particularly one that is likely to be tried, it makes a lot of sense to incur the cost of imaging the documents into a searchable database at the inception of the case. Why? For one example, if you are preparing for the deposition of “Frank Smith” you can identify with a few key strokes every document with Frank Smith's name on it and you can further narrow that to a particular time period. The same search manually could potentially take hours or even days. At a deposition or trial, the attorney can call up documents that might be mentioned in testimony immediately for the purposes of cross-examination or impeachment. The cost of imaging can be significant, but the failure to do it in a document intensive case is usually penny wise and pound foolish. Having searchable access to the documents and their contents will save substantial costs over the course of the case and provide a strategic advantage over your opponent.

5. Ask To Be Informed Of Every Substantive Step

In the course of a hotly contested litigation there will be hundreds of material events ' you should know about every one of them. You should also know about the possible options available to you and the reasons for a particular option that your attorney may be suggesting. For one example, your attorney may think that it is imperative to prepare a motion to compel certain discovery that the other side is refusing to provide. However, you may know that the documents that the attorney is trying to obtain are not important enough to justify the cost of the motion or that the same information can be found or accessed through another route. One efficient way to accomplish this step is simply an e-mail system. Ask the partner in charge or senior associate on the case to send you a short e-mail each time there is a material event in the litigation.

While you should be informed about, participate in and understand the reasons for various actions in the litigation, it is important that you not try to micromanage your attorney on the conduct of the litigation. You have retained an attorney for their expertise, experience and judgment ' don't second guess it. If you do, you will merely add to your cost unnecessarily.

6. Understand How The Case Is Staffed

Ask the lawyer at the inception of the case how it will be staffed. You should know who will be working on the case, their experience levels and their billing rate. Ideally, you should arrange to meet the attorneys who will be involved in the case. In a typical larger scale litigation, there will be one or more partners, senior associates and junior associates involved. Different types of work can be performed most efficiently at different levels of experience. For example, legal research is generally most efficiently performed at more junior levels while deposition preparation can often (but not always) be more efficiently performed at a more senior associate level. The partner on the case is undoubtedly mindful of assigning the work to ensure greatest success, competence and efficiency. However, it never hurts to expressly ask that the goal of efficiency be kept in the forefront as the litigation progresses.

7. Regularly Communicate About The Status Of The Case

In any significant litigation, you should establish a regular telephone conference with the partner in charge about the status of the case (on a bi-weekly or monthly basis). This provides an opportunity for both you and the lawyer to step back from the often highly intense daily activity on the case to consider its progress, strategy and trajectory including, for example, opportunities for settlement. Regular communication provides for accountability.

8. Maintain Good Relations

Your lawyer is your business partner. Every lawyer with whom I have worked at my firm has their client's best interests in mind, wants to get the best possible result and will move heaven and earth to get there. Accordingly, while you should expect and require accountability and efficiency, as discussed above, remember that a cordial, respectful atmosphere between client and lawyer (including the most junior lawyers on the case) is, without question, the best environment to maximize results and efficiency.