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title: 🤔 E-billing pitched as savings? It’s a con
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E-billing has long been pitched as a savings strategy. And I just don’t get it.

| View in browser Hi there,   As long as I can remember, e-billing has been pitched as a savings strategy.   And I just don’t get it.    In-house teams spend countless hours on implementation and big chunks of their legal tech budget on e-billing.   And a key justification is to ensure the invoices from outside counsel conform to the corporate’s outside counsel guidelines.    E-billing: “Gasp! There were two(!!!) associates who billed time for this phone call when the guidelines only permitted one!!” 👀  Gotchya!   Also, e-billing: “Congrats, we just delivered you 3% in cost savings!” 🎉   Now, look.   Firms should abide by the billing guidelines. And I’m all for the tools that make them do so.   But I struggle to see how e-billing sells itself as “cost savings.”   Your outside counsel overcharged you — and you caught them out.    It was an extra 3% (call it 5%, 7%, or even 10%!) that you shouldn’t have been charged in the first place. That’s not savings.   But here’s my larger point.    Hourly billing — and all the systems, guidelines, technology, and time used to micromanage it — keeps us focused 🎯 on the wrong thing.     As a result, we’ve forgotten to ask the question that matters most.   Is there a better way to engage our outside law firms?    One that is built on outcomes and value and removes the need for billing in (often) meaningless 6-minute increments in the first place?    Setting up e-billing takes months or (more often) years. ⏳   Only to catch relatively small errors 🤏 that aren’t even savings at all.    Whereas tools like PERSUIT help in-house teams examine firms side-by-side on the things that matter — like price, quality, expertise, diversity, and strategy — to drive true value and real cost savings 💵 (26% on average, according to our data).    Driving outcomes rather than measuring time.    If you want a little more info, here’s a link to a data report we just published last week about the impact of reverse auctions when engaging outside counsel — and the real savings they create.   In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.    Hit reply and tell me!     -Jim Delkousis Founder and CEO PERSUIT \| persuit.com   Learn More About PERSUIT PERSUIT RANKINGS Top Firms on PERSUIT Outside the Global 200 Law firms not listed on the Global 200 that have been awarded the most work by dollar amount on PERSUIT during 2021 and 2022 (Minimum 3 RFPs).   1. McKool Smith 2. Miller & Chevalier 3. Bressler Amery & Ross 4. Kuchler Polk Weiner 5. Estes Thorne & Carr   For more firm rankings, download The PERSUIT 50, our report of the most trusted firms on the PERSUIT platform. PODCAST: INNOVATIVE LEGAL LEADERSHIP Recent Podcasts Empowering Your Nonprofit In-House Teams Phyllis Harris: American Red Cross Staying Relevant on Cross-Functional Teams Michael Hoffman: NXP Semiconductors A Legal Firm That Doesn't Track Billable Hours Demetrio Zema, Law Squared Advocating for the Underserved Ann Kappler, Prudential Financial Innovation Powered by Technology Rishi Varma: Hewlett Packard Enterprise WEBINARS Upcoming Webinars How to Make AFAs a Win-Win: Lessons From the Firm Side Wednesday, March 22, 2023: 12 p.m. EDT / 4 p.m. GMT 5 Myths (Debunked!) About Reverse Auctions in Legal ​​Wednesday, April 5, 2023: 12 p.m. EDT / 5 p.m. BST Recent Webinar Recordings Out of the AFA Wilderness: How to Confidently Navigate the M&A Scoping Process AFAs Aren't "Alternative" Anymore When Legal Budgets Get Tight: What an Economic Slowdown Means for In-House Legal Teams Legal Rate Review and Negotiation: A Practical Approach to Rate Increase Requests in the Current Market NEWSLETTER Previous Editions of the Kill Bill(able Hours) Newsletter  Let's end the controversy over reverse auctions in legal Do lawyers stink at innovation? Lawyers aren't always logical GC 4.0 is here. Are you ready? Does the billable hour need killing? Firm rankings from $7 billion in proposals and 1,500 law firms Layoffs and law firm profits   PERSUIT, 48 W 25th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10010 Manage preferences |
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