Time and expense accounting and budget administration are critical to mass tort law firm management. When real-time accounting is available – a function that includes the most recent trust costs – leadership is guided by data that supports more informed, agile decisions to control or reallocate of resources.
When managing litigation budgets, Common Benefit Funds, or Qualified Settlement Funds, real-time data trends tells a more meaningful story than reviewing previously reported monthly or quarterly numbers. Having visibility into contemporaneous financial data enables mass tort attorneys to see emerging expense trends, compare budget vs. actual expenses, respond to investment fluctuations, and track profit margins when that information matters most.
The ability to view real-time data:
- Enables leadership to know the costs of litigation or settlement fund administration at a glance.
- Provides a highly-relevant view into current trends.
- Offers insight into daily performance and forward-looking projections regarding asset management.
- Empowers firms to create targeted forecasts that include overhead, administrative costs, and the projected number of future cases.
- Helps ensure that monies are properly allocated for all budgeted costs as a litigation progresses or a settlement fund matures.
Dashboard access for anywhere, anytime reports
Rather than waiting for someone else to generate and send reports, real-time, cloud based accounting enables authorized parties to access relevant financial data from a central electronic dashboard. Timely data such as cost trends or profit margins can be viewed in the moment, allowing stakeholders to respond quickly to fluctuations and make meaningful financial forecasts. In addition, digital-first lawyers can promptly access financial data and reports to monitor expenditures associated with their cases. Transparency and real-time availability is especially helpful when managing complex litigation involving attorneys and support staff across multiple law firms.
A case for outsourcing litigation/settlement accounting
Mass tort lawsuits are complex in nature. Accurate accounting for litigation costs adds to that intricacy due to the specific guidelines imposed by courts for each litigation and the number of parties involved. Outsourcing this vital activity enables law firms to focus on litigation without having to manage the myriad financial activities associated with the litigation —advertising expenses, administrative costs (record keeping, bookkeeping, claimant outreach, vendor coordination/budgeting, notices, data analytics), audits, trustee fees, and disbursements.
Real-time accounting provides a highly relevant view into current trends, giving mass tort firms greater agility to adapt to emerging issues. To learn more about Verus LLC’s real-time accounting services, fill out this form or email us at info@verusllc.com and we will reply immediately.