Legal consultants and pricing experts for years have advised legal departments frustrated with ever-rising outside counsel fees to unshackle themselves from paying hourly rates and instead negotiate alternative fee arrangements.

The benefits can be substantial, the experts say. For example, paying a law firm a set amount for handling a matter or making some fees contingent on a successful outcome, can give legal departments cost transparency and predictability.

In short, the various arrangements help establish a link between outside counsel costs and the value provided.