A leading AI company partnered with Elevate to transform outside counsel rate management through automation, benchmarking, analytics, and centralised governance.
Challenge
An AI company discovered that outside counsel billed inconsistent rates across practice groups despite corporate-level agreements. The law department sought a structured rate management process to improve governance of outside counsel rates. Key challenges included:
- Inconsistent implementation of negotiated discounts despite rate agreements across firms and practice areas
- Zero visibility into rate negotiations between in-house staff and outside counsel
- Ad hoc rate approvals with no guidance on rate competitiveness
- Inconsistent and incomplete data in the eBilling system
- Limited control over annual rate increases
Solution
The company partnered with Elevate to establish a robust rate management programme that combined technology, standardised processes, benchmarking, analytics, and centralised approvals to improve visibility and strengthen governance across outside counsel rates. The program included:
- Streamlined data points required for law firm rate proposals using standardised templates with mandatory data fields
- Improved the accuracy of rate submissions through template harmonisation, automation of quality checks, and coordination with law firms
- Leveraged automation and business intelligence tools to analyse customer rate data and develop rate benchmarking metrics, dashboards, and budget impact analysis for tactical decision-making
- Identified rate negotiation opportunities through:
- Rate offer and structure consolidation
- Billing rate harmonisation
- Volume discount agreements and consistent enforcement procedures
- Alternative Fee Arrangements (AFAs) across different practice areas
- Centralised rate negotiations with key legal operations personnel using disciplined negotiation practices
