We often receive frantic calls from legal ops professionals who are suddenly faced with a legal matter for which they hadn't budgeted. It's usually right after they've received the first invoice of a new matter (usually M&A or litigation) and realize they don't have the bandwidth to thoroughly review—and more invoices are coming. Here is what we recommend:

• Don't pay the invoice—send it to a third-party billing analyst for review;
• If billing guidelines are not already in place with outside counsel, create and send them;
• Adapt your process, within your existing framework, to manage resources.

Don't Pay the Bill

The bill will get paid on time. But before you pay, you first want to ensure the bill is accurate and free of mistakes. Whether your organization has an eBilling system in place or not, adding a professional review should work within your team's process. Paying law firm invoices on time encourages firms to accept adjustments suggested by the reviewers.

Next, when engaging with a third-party reviewer, provide as much information as you can about the matter, the law firms, and agreements in place. This will assist the review team as they look for errors and inconsistencies in the invoice. Additionally, the context surrounding each time-entry narrative determines whether a line item is acceptable or not.