Litigation Documents and Work Product
Core Documents
A case budget presents projected fees and expenses by phase with underlying assumptions about discovery scope, expert needs, motion practice, and trial. Most guidelines require submission within a defined period after assignment.
It is revised at defined milestones.
Alternative Names:
Budget Submission, Matter Budget Document
Why it Matters?
The assumptions section is what makes a budget defensible when the matter deviates, because a projection stating that it assumes two expert depositions and no dispositive motion practice explains itself when either changes. Budgets submitted as bare numbers cannot be defended and produce variance disputes. Stating assumptions also forces the useful discipline of thinking through the matter's likely course at the outset.
Frequently Confused with
Frequently asked questions
Why state assumptions in a budget?
When is a budget typically due?
