Efficiency unleashed: Transforming legal bill review with AI

One of the most valuable aspects of the annual ELM Amplify User Conference is the opportunity for attendees to meet and hear from their counterparts at other companies who have been successful in addressing their shared challenges. At this year's conference, we designed the session Unleashing the power of AI in invoice review for a new era of legal cost management to do precisely that. To discuss their experience using AI and managed services invoice review to improve legal cost management, we were joined by Glenn Vile, Senior Manager of Legal and Compliance Operations at Marsh & McLennan, and Mike Stein, Chief Operating Officer QVC Legal and Compliance. They were joined by our vice president and segment leader of LegalVIEW^® BillAnalyzer, Jeffrey Salomón.

Both guest speakers have been through the process of choosing, implementing, and going live with LegalVIEW BillAnalyzer and had a lot of useful knowledge to share. Here are some of the key takeaways from the conversation.

An experienced technology partner is essential for success

Any significant change in legal operations practices requires effective change management to be successful. For best results, work with an experienced team that has a long track record of effective implementations across many clients. Glenn was impressed by the team that implemented LegalVIEW BillAnalyzer for Marsh & McLennan. They took a methodical approach, patiently going through billing guidelines line by line to understand the company's goals with each one. This became the basis for coding the guidelines in a way that the AI ​​could understand and execute.

Initially, Glenn experienced some skepticism, both internally and from Marsh & McLennan's outside lawyers. They addressed in-house counsel's concerns by being transparent and assuring them that the legal operations team would handle conversations with outside counsel; Lawyers' relationships with their associated firms would not be negatively affected.

Additionally, Glenn shared with his internal team the background of the ELM Solutions experts who were assigned to his implementation. When Marsh & McLennan's internal staff learned that the BillAnalyzer team included several key members who were also lawyers, many of the more skeptical members of the team felt reassured.

Invest extra time immediately after implementation

At QVC, Mike and his team met daily during the BillAnalyzer implementation process to examine each bill and ensure the adjustments made reflected QVC's goals. This had multiple benefits. First, it was a way to address skepticism and increase certainty that the AI ​​tool was working as expected. Additionally, that attention to detail also made Mike and his staff even more familiar with the guidelines as well as their companies' labor and billing practices.

That initial period of increased scrutiny was fruitful, but temporary. The team still meets to make sure BillAnalyzer's results remain aligned with the company's goals, but they no longer discuss all the adjustments and only meet every two weeks.

AI-powered invoice review produces short-term results and long-term benefits

When companies begin using an AI-based invoice review solution, there is an almost immediate increase in cost control as the AI ​​begins to examine each invoice and ensure all adjustments are made. After introducing BillAnalyzer, most legal departments see an average savings of up to 10%. This is impressive, but the long-term benefits are even more amazing. For example, the average increase in compliance with billing guidelines for BillAnalyzer clients is up to 20%.

Presenters at the session shared that they emphasize these lasting advantages when discussing the move to AI-powered bill review with outside counsel. They want to be sure that companies know that they are not interested in “marking down” to save money, but rather are focused on compliance with billing guidelines. Better compliance leads to increases in budget predictability and efficiency for in-house counsel. By spending less time reviewing invoices and discussing common billing topics, attorneys can spend more time on highly skilled legal work that provides more value to the company.

Over time, both presenters have seen compliance improve, while conversations with companies about violations are based more on facts and the actual text of a particular entry. As their understanding of the requirements has improved, outside counsel have also stopped requesting the number of exceptions they used to. As stated: "While the conversations remain the same, they have become much easier."