More GCs Put Outside Litigators on a Budget

Elisa Garcia realizes that no amount of two-for-one coupons or meat lovers' specials will ever turn her law department at Domino's Pizza Inc. into a money-making operation. Instead, the best that she can hope to do as general counsel is to control costs. So, in an effort to gain some of that control, she requires the litigation firms that the pizza company hires to set budgets for the costs of cases at the outset. Garcia's move is part of a trend among corporate counsel who continually cite cutting costs as their greatest concern and who see detailed budgets from outside counsel as a way to trim their expenses. But looking into the future is difficult, say some outside counsel, who assert that devising a realistic budget that can also accommodate the unexpected is a tricky -- if not confining -- endeavor.
Leigh JonesThe National Law JournalSeptember 27, 2005
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