Partnering with your attorneys on major lawsuits: intelligent and realistic litigation budgeting and preparation can be critical to the outcome of a case and can bring good financial results for the company and the law firm.

• Author: Dolkas, David
• Position: Litigation

The rising cost of legal expenses related to high-risk litigation is a concern for all companies and the executives responsible for a company's financial health. In fact, the single most important priority for most corporate legal departments is controlling legal costs, and a litigation budget, or estimate, is perceived as integral to controlling costs. Consequently, most companies with any sophistication will either request or demand litigation budgets for high-risk litigation.

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This prompts a series of important questions:

How does the litigator determine the size and scope of a case in order to create a meaningful litigation budget? If you were considering hiring a contractor to remodel your kitchen, the first thing you would ask for is a quote: How much will the remodel cost? The contractor, of course, couldn't answer that question unless he assessed the scope of the work and had a complete understanding as to the exact dimensions and features of the remodel--all the way down to the type of flooring, cabinets, fixtures, etc. that you wanted.

As consumers of litigation services, most companies ask the same question: How much will this case cost us? To answer that question, the litigator needs to understand the size, scope and features of the litigation assignment before the budget is created. The following are the baseline questions that the litigator needs to answer:

* How many witnesses need to be interviewed and/or deposed? And, where are they located?

* How many documents will the parties produce?

* What substantive, non-discovery motions will likely be filed? Are there any unique legal issues that will require a lot of research?

* Will the other side file a counterattack and, if so, how much time and energy will that require?

* How many experts are needed, and on what topics? How will I find them?

* What assistance will the client provide to the litigation team in terms of gathering documents, reviewing documents, technology tutorial, witness preparation/coordination, locating and educating experts, etc.?

* What will be the level of cooperation from opposing counsel? Will the other side willingly produce documents and witnesses; or will all requests meet with opposition and require motions to compel?

* Are there any other factors that will add to the costs--travel, witness problems, judge's peculiarities or local rules, etc.?

Additionally, the litigator needs to understand the client's view of the litigation...