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33
E
very year, general counsel, chief
legal officers and legal operations
departments are tasked with
setting strategic and financial
goals for their departments.
These goals are often aimed at reducing legal
expenses and increasing internal audit control
compliance. To achieve these goals requires the
organization to review and audit incoming legal
invoices for compliance with billing guidelines,
terms and conditions, and this responsibility
is often assigned to already overburdened legal
operations teams or managing attorneys. The
result is reduced resource and expertise availability
to adequately review invoices thoroughly. This
leaves money on the table in the form of payment
of noncompliant invoice entries and also in
terms of a missed opportunity to collaborate
with outside counsel to improve efficiency in the
delivery of legal services by paying close attention
to adherence with thoughtfully developed billing
guidelines and case management approaches.
The first step an organization needs to take to
begin realizing improved efficiency in legal spend
is to develop robust billing guidelines and ensure
that outside counsel are educated on and accept
Solutions for Legal
Invoice Audit
by Steven Rudnick and Vivek Khanwalkar
