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Legal Operations and Spend

How Do Legal Departments Budget?

A legal department's plan for internal costs, outside counsel and technology over a year, often broken down by matter or business unit.

Legal Tech GlossaryBy The Circle Desk

Why It Matters

Accurate legal budgets depend on matter-level forecasts from outside counsel and good historical data. Spend management tools collect both and track actuals against plan.

Legal Operations & Spend Management Companies

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Related Terms

Accruals (legal spend)
Estimates of legal work performed but not yet billed, reported so finance can record the liability in the right period.
Legal spend management
Software and processes for budgeting, tracking and controlling what a legal department spends on outside counsel and vendors.
AFA (alternative fee arrangement)
Any way of pricing legal work other than the billable hour, such as flat fees, capped fees, success fees or subscriptions.

General information, not legal advice. Part of the Legal Tech Glossary, 173 terms in plain English.