Michael S Helfer

US Patent:

8311909, Nov 13, 2012

Filed:

Nov 2, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/592089

Inventors:

Michael Helfer - New York NY, US
Michael T. Heyrich - Madison NJ, US
Maria M. Zulaica - Tampa FL, US

Assignee:

Citibank, N.A. - New York NY

International Classification:

G06F 15/02

US Classification:

705 32, 705 30, 705 34, 705 40

Abstract:

A method and system for managing legal fees and minimizing costs of an organization involves periodically receiving case budget information consisting at least in part of identification, billing rate, and hours for each person projected to work on a legal project for the organization. The case budget information is received by internal counsel for the organization from external counsel via entry of the information on a template provided by internal counsel and uploaded to an internal matter management system of the organization if approved by internal counsel. At the end of each billing cycle, current bill data from external counsel is also uploaded to the internal matter management system of the organization, and the current bill data is compared with the case budget information. A report is generated flagging any discrepancies between the current bill data and the case budget information.