Hourly Rates
Litigation Phases
Your Results
Set rates and phase hours, then click calculate.
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What This Calculator Does
This legal matter budget calculator helps law firms, corporate legal departments, and clients build detailed phase-by-phase litigation budgets. It allocates costs across attorney, paralegal, and expert witness roles at their respective hourly rates, adds hard cost expenses for each phase, and calculates the total matter budget with a blended rate analysis. The tool uses a standard litigation lifecycle (pleadings through trial) with fully customizable phases, hours, and rates.
The Formula
Each litigation phase has its own labor allocation and expense estimate. Attorney hours represent lead counsel and associate work. Paralegal hours cover document preparation, discovery management, and administrative support. Expert witness hours include consultation, report preparation, and testimony time billed at the expert rate. Hard costs (filing fees, deposition transcripts, travel, court reporters) are added as flat amounts per phase. The blended rate divides total professional fees by total hours to show the effective billing rate across all timekeeper levels.
Step-by-Step Example
Set hourly rates
Attorney: $350/hr. Paralegal: $150/hr. Expert Witness: $450/hr. These are 2026 national averages for mid-market litigation.
Allocate hours by phase
Discovery phase: 40 attorney hours, 30 paralegal hours, 5 expert hours. Hard costs: $3,000 for document production and e-discovery.
Review phase-by-phase totals
Discovery phase total: $14,000 (attorney) + $4,500 (paralegal) + $2,250 (expert) + $3,000 (costs) = $23,750.
Analyze the complete budget
Total matter budget across all phases: $153,000. Blended rate: $285/hr. Attorney fees represent 65% of total budget.
Real-World Use Cases
Client Budget Presentations
Attorneys present phase-by-phase litigation budgets to corporate clients during engagement planning, providing transparency and enabling informed go/no-go decisions.
LEDES and UTBMS Compliance
Structure budgets along standard litigation phases that align with Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES) billing codes for corporate legal departments.
Alternative Fee Arrangements
Use the cost-based budget as a baseline for negotiating flat fee, capped fee, or success fee arrangements with clients.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Underestimating discovery costs. E-discovery, document review, and deposition preparation consistently consume the largest share of litigation budgets, often 30% to 40% of total matter cost.
Not accounting for expert witness costs early enough. Experts retained for case evaluation and report preparation often bill 20 to 40 hours before trial testimony even begins.
Failing to include hard costs such as filing fees, court reporter fees, deposition transcripts, travel, and technology costs. These can add 10% to 20% above professional fees.
Using a single blended rate when the attorney-paralegal mix varies significantly by phase. Discovery is paralegal-heavy while trial is attorney-heavy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Accuracy and Disclaimer
Litigation budgets are estimates based on projected hours and current rates. Actual costs depend on case complexity, opposing counsel strategy, court rulings, and settlement dynamics. This tool is for planning purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Consult your attorney for matter-specific budget guidance.
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