In parts 1 and part 2 of this series, we discussed auditing your current eDiscovery reality and building a scalable, hybrid model supported by trusted vendor partners. Now it’s time to address the final – and often most sensitive – part of the journey: how to price your services.
Because if you truly want to turn litigation support into a profit center, pricing cannot be an afterthought. It must be intentional, defensible, and built around real value, for both the client and the firm.
Developing a thoughtful pricing strategy doesn’t happen overnight. It requires collaboration across litigation support, finance, firm leadership, and vendor partners. You must clearly understand your internal costs, including software, people, infrastructure, training, alongside external vendor pricing and market expectations.
From there, you can design a pricing structure that strikes a balance between predictability, scalability, and profitability.
A tiered pricing model is often the most effective approach. Smaller matters may be handled internally at lower, predictable rates, while larger or review-intensive matters can be supported by trusted vendor partners and priced accordingly. This approach protects margins while giving clients clarity and consistency, two things they value deeply.
One of the most important decisions you will make is determining what type of billing department you intend to be.
Pass-through pricing is straightforward: vendor costs are passed on directly to the client, typically for more commoditized services such as hosting or basic infrastructure. This model is transparent and familiar, but it does not reflect the expertise or leadership your litigation support team brings to the matter.
A cost-plus model, when done correctly, is where firms begin to generate sustainable value. By negotiating volume-based discounts with trusted vendors and leveraging scale, firms can offer clients very reasonable, industry-standard pricing while also reflecting the value of services such as project management, leadership, analytics strategy, workflow design, and advisory support.
This is not about arbitrary markups. It is about being a good steward of client data, providing leadership, reducing risk, and delivering efficiency at scale. Clients are not paying more; they are paying for better outcomes.
Some attorneys embrace this concept immediately. Others hesitate when it applies to a specific client. That is exactly why internal champions and leadership buy-in are essential. When partners understand that this approach preserves attorney time, improves efficiency, and often reduces overall client spend, alignment follows.
One of the fastest ways to erode trust is to mix billing strategies across clients or matters. Doing so creates confusion, raises red flags, and undermines the credibility of your entire department.
Decide on your pricing model. Get leadership approval. Apply it consistently.
Lean on firm leadership, finance, and internal champions to support the rollout, especially when individual partners feel pressure to make exceptions. Consistency protects everyone.
Hourly billing is often the easiest place to start. But as your program matures, your pricing should reflect the full scope of value your team provides, including:
Your vendor partners can be invaluable here. Many provide detailed cost modeling and metrics that help make pricing data-driven and defensible. Use those tools. You should always be able to explain exactly how – and why – you bill the way you do.
A successful litigation support department is predictable, structured, aligned with partners, understood by accounting, supported by strong vendors, and consistent in its workflows. That structure becomes a competitive advantage for the entire firm. This should be as much of a marketing tool as a business advantage to help land sought-after new businesses.
In practice, that means:
Getting pricing right isn’t just about revenue. It’s about trust, clarity, and demonstrating that your team delivers repeatable, measurable value.
This concludes our three-part series on turning litigation support into a profit center. If you’d like to go deeper, you can access the full webinar on demand or download our free eBook, Skeptical? We Are Too: AI, Billing, and Building a Profitable eDiscovery Program.
If you missed the earlier posts, you can catch up here:
If you want to talk through how to build or refine your pricing model, feel free to contact me directly.
Let’s make this the year your litigation support department becomes a true business engine.