Digital White Papers

In early 2013, nQueue embarked on a project to better understand and share real-world cost recovery strategies. By analyzing what firms actually do — rather than what they say they do — detailed and accurate benchmarking data is now available. Failing to recover these chargeable costs can cut deeply into the bottom line. This information can also be enormously helpful, even for firms that might opt to not charge back certain expenses to clients. Without transparency and reliable metrics around these tasks, attorneys will also be unable to make intelligent decisions about the profitability of specific clients. Based on data gathered from the "Cost Recovery Data Capture and Rate Report," here are ways attorneys and staff can make smarter business decisions. KEY DATA POINTS The report focused on several specific areas where firms have traditionally charged back. These include: • Copy Services: Most firms differentiate between black and white and color copies, which is a smart decision. Those firms that differentiate charge on average 3.3 times as much for color copies as they do for black and white copies. • Print Services: More than 75% of firms now charge clients for prints, up from less than 5% in 2005. However, fewer firms differentiate between color and black and white. Only about 45% capture these data, but those that do charge about 2.7 times as much for color as they do for black and white printing. • Fax: Among firms studied, slightly more than half, 52.6%, captured the number of faxes they send. • Scan: More than 44% of firms are now charging for scanning. • Phone: Slightly more than half of firms, nearly 54%, charge for phone services. BILLING PRACTICES FAIL TO KEEP UP WITH TECHNOLOGY Evolving technology has changed the types of services clients demand from their law firms and the ways attorneys and staff work. Years ago, attorneys and staff would print a single copy of a document and then make multiple copies on a copy machine when necessary. Now firms rely on multifunction devices that can print, copy and scan documents with the push of a button. Color devices are far more readily available than they once were, and documents that used to be printed and faxed are often scanned and sent via email. Billing practices have not kept up, though. For example, the research found that most firms fail to distinguish between black and white copies and color copies, even though it's more expensive to print color copies. Scanning is another area where firms often fail to track and pass along costs. While scanning might seem to be a negligible expense, it takes time to scan documents, devices gradually wear out from use, and firms must pay for data storage. Yet fewer than half of law firms charge for this service. What's worse is they don't even track usage. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER (AND MONEY) For many firms, this failure to identify critical information has numerous implications. This is true whether firms are directly billing clients for these types of expenses, they are absorbing these costs as part of alternative fee arrangements, or they choose not to submit bills to clients in the spirit of maintaining good relationships. ILTA WHITE PAPER: OCTOBER 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 22 JUST THE FACTS: UNCOVERING COST RECOVERY DATA Research found that most firms fail to distinguish between black and white copies and color copies.

• Cover
• Intro
• Contents
• Developing a Pricingand Legal ProjectManagement Program
• Data Visualization for Legal:Why You Need It andHow To Start
• Swim Lanes: Mapping Processes While Learning To Swim
• Just the Facts: Uncovering Cost Recovery Data
• Sorting Apples Let Technology Make theMost of Matter Workflows
• Efficient Billing and Faster Payments Help Firms Thrive
• Less-Risky Business: Best Practices for Contract Management
• Year-End Collections Start January 1
• Cost Recovery Strategies that Work
• A Business Intelligence Bill of Rights:20 Critical Factors for Selecting Your BI Solution