Every six minutes.
Accounted for.
Whether you are a company managing a panel or a client funding one substantial litigation matter, legal fees can be difficult to track. We provide ongoing invoice review, budget monitoring and clear reporting so you can understand spend as the work progresses — six minutes at a time.
ONGOING MATTER SUPPORT
One substantial matter.
A clear view throughout.
You do not need a panel of law firms or an in-house legal team to benefit from independent costs review. We work with companies and other law firm clients who want to monitor the cost of a substantial litigation matter as it unfolds.
- Review invoices as they arrive against the engagement terms, rates and agreed scope
- Track cumulative spend against the matter budget and litigation stages
- Review revised estimates and flag potential overruns early
- Monitor staffing, duplication and disbursements across the matter
- Provide regular reporting and discuss the likely cost of the next stage
We agree the review and reporting frequency around your matter. Our role is to support informed, constructive conversations with your lawyers and help keep the working relationship strong.
01 / INVOICE REVIEW
Every invoice checked
before you pay it.
- Time and staffing. Excessive attendances, work done at the wrong level, or too many people on a call.
- Scope. Work outside the engagement or the agreed budget.
- Rates and disbursements. Charges against the rate card, mark-ups and unapproved costs.
- AI efficiency. Time recorded for tasks firms now do with AI tools, and AI-assisted work with no matching reduction.
- Non-billable work. Internal conferences, file administration and training, considered against your engagement terms and billing guidelines.
You receive a short query schedule for each invoice, with the reason and amount. You decide what goes to the firm, or we can handle the conversation for you.
02 / SPEND REPORTING
A clearer view.
A better conversation.
Reporting tailored to a single matter or a wider legal budget, with the frequency agreed for your engagement:
- Spend by firm, matter, practice area and work type
- Budget against actual, with variance explained in plain English
- What was queried, what was conceded and what was paid
- Forecast for the next litigation stage or reporting period
03 / PANEL OVERSIGHT
Set the expectations.
Then follow through.
- Billing guidelines your firms can follow, with compliance checked
- Matter budgets and estimates reviewed at the outset
- Rate-card benchmarking at panel renewal
- Firm scorecards on accuracy, budget adherence and responsiveness
04 / COSTS DISPUTES
From first query
to resolution.
When a bill cannot be resolved by query, The Legal Costs Consultants can assist with costs assessment and disputes in NSW and Victoria. Any dispute work is separately scoped and agreed.
Our aim is to keep your working relationships strong. We raise clear, fair questions and help resolve them constructively.
Let’s look closer.
Tell us about your matter or panel and the questions you want answered.