Enter case assumptions
Example dataset
Illustrative numbers only. Replace with your own assumptions.
| Scenario | Attorney fees | Experts | Discovery | Court/admin | Estimated total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early settlement (6 months) | USD 26,000 | USD 4,500 | USD 3,000 | USD 1,800 | USD 42,500 |
| Mid-case resolution (9 months) | USD 39,000 | USD 6,500 | USD 5,200 | USD 2,400 | USD 61,900 |
| Trial track (14 months) | USD 68,000 | USD 12,000 | USD 9,500 | USD 3,500 | USD 103,000 |
Formula used
- Labor fees = (attorney rate × hours) + (paralegal rate × hours).
- Expert total = expert flat fees + (expert rate × expert hours).
- Direct subtotal = sum of all direct line items.
- Overhead = (labor + document review) × overhead %.
- Risk buffer = (subtotal + overhead) × buffer %.
- Inflation uplift ≈ total × (inflation % × months / 12).
- Taxes/fees = total × taxes %.
- Settlement adjustment reduces remaining-month spend by a chosen %.
- Monthly burn = adjusted total / timeline months.
- Expected net spend = total × (1 − success probability).
How to use this calculator
- Enter realistic hours for each role and phase.
- Add court fees, discovery, experts, and travel items.
- Set overhead and risk buffer for your organization.
- Use timeline months and inflation for rate creep.
- Optionally model settlement month and reduction percent.
- Press Calculate to see totals above the form.
- Download CSV or PDF to share with stakeholders.
Budget drivers and where costs concentrate
Litigation budgets concentrate in attorney time, discovery operations, and expert work. In civil matters, billed labor often represents 45–70% of spend when hourly rates range from 200 to 600 and total billed hours land between 80 and 250. Discovery can add 5–25% depending on volume, review approach, and tool licensing. Experts often combine a fixed engagement with hourly analysis, so their share can swing widely.
Timeline effects and monthly burn planning
A timeline in months supports cash planning, not only totals. A nine‑month track costing 72,000 implies an average burn near 8,000 monthly, but spending rarely flows evenly. Early phases are lighter, while discovery and motions create spikes. This calculator converts assumptions into a monthly profile and a cumulative curve so teams can align reserves, approvals, and milestone reporting.
Overhead, contingency, and rate creep
Overhead captures coordination, vendor management, and administrative lift. Many teams model overhead between 8% and 20% on labor-heavy lines. A separate risk buffer covers uncertainty such as unexpected motions, extra depositions, or extended briefing. Rate creep matters over longer tracks: a 3% annual uplift over 12 months increases an 80,000 plan by about 2,400 before scope change.
Settlement modeling and decision thresholds
Early settlement can change spend by truncating later phases. Use the settlement month and reduction percent to approximate savings on remaining work. Settling in month 6 of a 12‑month plan and reducing remaining effort by 35% can cut total cost by roughly 17% when post‑settlement months are modeled at the reduced level. This helps compare legal strategy to business objectives and risk appetite.
Reporting outputs for stakeholders
A credible budget is auditable and shareable. The CSV export supports procurement review, vendor comparisons, and historical benchmarking. The PDF report packages key totals, monthly burn, and line‑item detail for executives. As you refine scenarios, keep assumptions consistent, document the basis for hours and rates, and update buffers when facts change scope, venue, or discovery volume.
FAQs
1) What should I enter for attorney hours?
Start with a phase-based estimate: intake, pleadings, discovery, motions, and resolution. Use prior matters or counsel input. Add extra hours if you expect heavy discovery, multiple experts, or recurring motion practice.
2) How does the risk buffer work?
The buffer applies to the subtotal plus overhead to cover uncertainty. Increasing it raises total cost without changing line items. Use a higher buffer when facts are evolving, deadlines are tight, or the opposing party is highly litigious.
3) What is included in overhead?
Overhead models internal effort tied to legal work, such as coordination, approvals, reporting, and vendor management. It is applied to labor and document review in this calculator, but you can adjust the percentage to match your policy.
4) How should I treat experts?
Enter any engagement or retainer in expert flat fees, then add hourly analysis using expert rate and hours. If you expect multiple experts, combine their totals or run separate scenarios and aggregate the results.
5) Why is inflation an estimate?
The inflation input approximates rate creep across the timeline using a simple proportional uplift. Real billing can increase in steps and varies by vendor and practice. Use it for planning, then reconcile with updated rate sheets.
6) Can I use the monthly chart for cash forecasting?
Yes. The monthly chart provides a budget profile that scales to the adjusted total. If you set a settlement month, later months are reduced by your selected percentage. For precision forecasting, align the model to actual milestone dates.