Procurement & Spend Benchmarks
Spend control is shifting earlier in the matter lifecycle
Onit’s legal spend guide frames budget pressure as a pattern that builds through disconnected systems, manual review and lagging insight before forecasts miss and invoices pile up.
BY ECONOMICS DESK · MAY 14, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
Onit’s legal spend guide frames budget pressure as a pattern that builds through disconnected systems, manual review and lagging insight before forecasts miss and invoices pile up. That is a warning for outside counsel: the client-side spend function is trying to catch cost risk at intake, matter setup and invoice pattern level, not just at year-end rate review.
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Source References
- Thomson Reuters Institute: 2026 Report on the State of the US Legal Market
- Thomson Reuters Institute: Law Firm Rates Report 2026
- 2026 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory
- BTI Litigation Outlook 2026
- Wolters Kluwer LegalVIEW rates study
- Brightflag 2026 Outside Counsel Benchmarking Report
- PERSUIT: Structure Pricing & AFAs
- Onit: The Legal Spend Spiral
- Fairfax Associates Q1 2026 Law Firm Merger Report
- Above the Law: Newly Merged Top 20 Biglaw Firm’s Growing Pains Include Layoffs