Advisory Services
Strategy and analytics beyond the software.
CounselAudit builds the platform. Our advisory practice helps you use it — and goes further. Partner compensation modeling, fee arrangement strategy, counsel selection, and billing compliance programs delivered by people who built the technology.
Partner Compensation Analytics
Compensation is the highest-stakes conversation in any partnership. We build the analytical foundation so those conversations are grounded in data, not politics.
Custom Dashboards
Interactive dashboards tailored to your firm's comp model — whether lockstep, eat-what-you-kill, modified Hale & Dorr, or hybrid. Visualize origination credit, working attorney credit, collections, realization rates, and matter profitability across partners, practice groups, and offices.
Scenario Modeling
Model the impact of compensation formula changes before you announce them. What happens if you weight collections more heavily? What if you add a client development multiplier? See the ripple effects across the partnership before a single dollar moves.
Peer Benchmarking
Understand how your compensation structure and levels compare to peer firms. Identify retention risks where top performers are significantly below market, and areas where the firm is over-indexed.
Partner Comp Dashboard
$4.2M
Avg Partner Comp
3.1x
Spread Ratio
87%
Realization Rate
92%
Collection Rate
By Practice Group
Comp Conversation Framework
Partner Briefing
Personalized talking points grounded in data. Each partner receives a clear narrative explaining their compensation in context — what drove the number, how they compare to peers, and what levers they control.
Individual Partner Messaging
We help comp committees prepare for 1-on-1 conversations. Each partner's message is crafted to acknowledge contributions, explain the formula, and provide a forward-looking roadmap.
Partner Comp Consulting
The hardest part of compensation isn't the math — it's the message. We help comp committees deliver individual partner communications that are transparent, defensible, and retention-focused.
Compensation Committee Support
We work alongside your comp committee to structure the annual process — from data collection and self-assessment design through final allocation and communication. Objective outside perspective without the politics.
Individual Partner Messaging
Every partner gets a personalized narrative explaining their compensation. We draft talking points that acknowledge contributions, contextualize the number relative to peers and firm performance, and provide a clear path forward.
System Redesign
If your current comp model isn't driving the behavior you want, we help you redesign it. Transition from lockstep to merit-based, add client development incentives, or restructure origination credit — with full modeling of the transition impact.
Alternative Fee Arrangement Advisory
Everyone wants to move beyond hourly billing. Few know how to structure AFAs that work for both sides. We design fee arrangements that align incentives, reduce spend uncertainty, and actually get adopted.
AFA Design by Matter Type
Fixed fees for routine work. Capped fees for litigation. Success fees for outcomes-based matters. Blended rates for volume relationships. We design the right structure for each category of work and build the playbook your team can use to negotiate.
Negotiation Support
We prepare your team with data-backed negotiation positions. Historical spend analysis by matter type gives you the leverage to propose credible fixed or capped fees. We can join negotiations directly or coach from the sidelines.
Performance Monitoring
An AFA that isn't tracked is just a handshake. We set up monitoring frameworks to evaluate whether your fee arrangements are delivering the expected value — and when to renegotiate or revert.
AFA Performance Summary
Total AFA Savings
$1.4M / year
RFP Scorecard
RFP Management
Selecting outside counsel is one of the most consequential decisions a legal department makes — and one of the least structured. We bring rigor to the process so you choose the right firm, not just the loudest one.
RFP Design & Distribution
We design RFPs tailored to the work type — litigation panels, M&A advisory, IP portfolios, regulatory matters. Scoring criteria weighted to what actually predicts success, not just who writes the best pitch.
Response Evaluation
Structured scoring across experience, pricing, staffing, diversity, technology adoption, and client references. Side-by-side comparisons that cut through marketing language to reveal actual capability.
Panel Rationalization
Already have a panel? We audit your current roster against utilization, performance, and spend concentration. Identify overlap, consolidation opportunities, and gaps in coverage by practice area or geography.
Billing Compliance Programs
For law firms that are tired of getting invoices bounced back. We help firms build internal billing compliance programs that reduce write-offs, prevent client disputes, and demonstrate commitment to billing integrity.
Pre-Bill Review Process
We design a pre-bill review workflow that catches common guideline violations before invoices leave the building. Block billing, vague descriptions, excessive staffing, unapproved timekeepers — caught internally rather than flagged by the client.
Timekeeper Training
Interactive training programs for associates, partners, and billing staff on outside counsel guideline requirements. Tailored to your largest clients' specific guidelines. Dramatically reduces first-pass rejection rates.
Compliance Monitoring
Ongoing dashboards tracking guideline compliance rates by partner, practice group, and client. Identify patterns early — before they become client relationship problems or write-off events.
Compliance Impact
Before Program
23%
Invoice Rejection Rate
After Program
6%
Invoice Rejection Rate
Annual Write-Off Reduction
$2.1M
How we work
Every engagement starts with a conversation. No sales decks, no demos — just a direct discussion about what you're trying to solve.
Discovery
We listen. Understand your current state, pain points, and what success looks like for your firm or department.
Analysis
We dig into your data — billing records, compensation structures, fee arrangements, panel composition — and build the fact base.
Deliverables
Dashboards, reports, playbooks, and recommendations — not slide decks. Practical tools your team will actually use.
Support
We stay engaged through implementation. Comp conversations, RFP evaluations, AFA negotiations — we're in the room when it matters.
Let's talk about what you need.
No pitch. No demo. Just a conversation about the challenges you're facing and whether we can help.