Introduction – Why is a discussion around outside counsel billing guidelines (OCGs) needed? OCGs are a “hot button” issue for today’s legal department, as having a well-defined OCG can enforce alignment with corporate values and compliance with internal policies as well as aide in cost control of legal expenses, transparency and consistency in billing process, and efficiency in invoice review and payment.
Question #1: How do clients manage compliance with outside counsel guidelines?
- What is the process for circulating guidelines to outside counsel?
- Can in-house attorneys deviate from guidelines?
- Manual bill review v. ebilling vendors?
- Do clients require cost recovery for ebilling? (qualify that needs to be general and not specific)
- Externally accessible matter management systems?
- Are there penalties for non-compliance?
- Are rate increase requests tied to compliance?
Question #2: How do law firms manage compliance with outside counsel guidelines?
- Outside Counsel Guideline training / summaries
- Time entry guidance
- Pre-bill evaluation manual v. automated
Question #3: How can clients / law firms collaborate to improve compliance?
- How can outside counsel improve compliance?
- How can clients help improve compliance?
This is meant to be a highly interactive discussion where everyone may interact via smaller breakout rooms. At the conclusion of the huddle, we will poll participants to determine the need for follow up sessions on this topic (general v. advanced). The discussion and its outcome will also be used as a basis for a future article.
This huddle is open to all Ecosystem members.
