How to manage your fees when a matter runs longer than expected

When a matter takes longer than expected, the financial question follows quickly. If you agreed a fixed fee at the outset and the work has expanded, someone absorbs that cost. Making sure it isn't always your practice means having a clear approach from the start — and applying it consistently when a file runs beyond its original scope.

Why matters overrun without anyone deciding they will

Overruns rarely happen all at once. They build in steps: an additional party appears, the client takes longer to provide documents, a complication surfaces that wasn't anticipated, the scope of the transaction changes. By the time the practice notices, it may already have invested time that wasn't in the original estimate.

The problem isn't the delay itself. It's that many practices keep working through the overrun without telling the client and without documenting that the scope has changed. When it comes time to bill, that conversation is harder than it needed to be.

Recognising when a matter has gone beyond the original retainer

Before raising additional fees, you need to be able to identify the moment the overrun began. That requires having in writing, from the outset, what the retainer covers: which parties, which documents, which steps are included.

With that baseline in place, it becomes straightforward to spot when you're outside it — when a new party is added, when the nature of the transaction changes, when the client asks for work that wasn't in the original scope. That moment of recognition is when to act, not at completion.

When and how to tell the client

The conversation should happen before you take on the additional work, not after you've done it. Raising the issue at completion — after months of unreported overrun — creates friction that's almost always avoidable.

The message doesn't need to be long. It needs to explain what new work has arisen, that it falls outside the original retainer, and what the additional fee is or how it will be calculated. If the original instruction was time-based, the same rate applies. If it was a fixed fee, you'll need to decide whether to charge separately or propose an adjustment.

What matters is not assuming the client has worked this out for themselves. Say it clearly, and keep a record that you did.

Documenting scope changes on the matter file

The financial side of the matter file should reflect the original retainer and any subsequent expansions. A straightforward way to do this is to keep a note on the file recording:

• When the scope change was identified.
• A brief description of the additional work.
• Whether the client accepted it, and when.
• The agreed fee or the basis for calculating it.

This isn't administrative overhead — it's what allows the practice to justify the bill if the client questions it, and to hand the file to another fee earner without losing the thread.

Interim billing on long-running matters

When a matter runs for months, waiting until completion to bill creates two problems: the practice is effectively funding the work over that period, and the client receives a large bill at once that may be unexpected or difficult to accept.

Interim billing addresses both. You can agree at the outset that invoices will be raised at set intervals — monthly, every two months, or at the completion of defined phases — or that the retainer will be replenished as it is drawn down.

What matters is that the arrangement is agreed in writing from the start. A verbal understanding about fees is difficult to sustain if there's a dispute. A bill that sets out the work done to date and the corresponding fee is a much more defensible position.

When to ask for a retainer top-up

If your practice works on retainer, establish clearly when a replenishment is triggered: when the balance falls below a threshold, at the start of each phase, or at a set interval.

Without a clear rule, the most common outcome is that the retainer runs out without being replenished, and the practice completes the matter without cover for the final stages. The fix isn't to ask for more money at the end — it's to set the rule when the file is opened and follow it.

Keeping matters financially in order

Managing fees on a long-running matter isn't only about protecting revenue. It's about keeping the file in order. A practice that documents its scope clearly, identifies changes as they happen, and communicates them early has fewer disputes with clients and more capacity to focus on the work itself.

If you'd like support with keeping your matter files organised and your processes consistent, VerifyAct has tools built for that.