ALA Case Analysis and Interpretation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A legal administrator notices that a high-value litigation matter has had no billing entries for 45 days despite active court deadlines. What is the most appropriate immediate action?
- Close the matter as inactive
- Contact the responsible attorney to confirm matter status and capture any unbilled time (Correct answer)
- Write off all potential unbilled time
- Transfer the matter to another attorney without notice
Correct answer: Contact the responsible attorney to confirm matter status and capture any unbilled time
Proactively contacting the responsible attorney ensures accurate billing capture and confirms no critical deadlines are being missed.
Question 2: When interpreting a retainer agreement that is ambiguous about whether expense reimbursements are capped, which interpretive principle should the administrator apply first?
- Apply the contra proferentem rule against the drafter
- Review the parties' course of dealing and prior invoices for context (Correct answer)
- Default to the highest reimbursement amount
- Seek a court ruling on the ambiguity
Correct answer: Review the parties' course of dealing and prior invoices for context
Course of dealing and prior invoices provide extrinsic evidence of the parties' intent before resorting to formal legal doctrines.
Question 3: A firm's case management report shows that 30% of matters exceed their original budget estimates by more than 20%. Which root-cause analysis approach is most effective?
- Immediately raise all future budget estimates by 20%
- Analyze matters by practice group, matter type, and originating attorney to identify patterns (Correct answer)
- Require all attorneys to work on fixed-fee arrangements
- Eliminate budget tracking to reduce administrative burden
Correct answer: Analyze matters by practice group, matter type, and originating attorney to identify patterns
Segmenting overruns by practice group, matter type, and attorney reveals systemic causes rather than applying uniform adjustments.
Question 4: During case review, an administrator finds that a contingency fee matter settled for $500,000 with a 33% fee agreement, but the client was billed $20,000 in expenses separately. What is the correct fee calculation?
- $165,000 fee applied to the gross settlement (Correct answer)
- $145,100 fee applied to net settlement after expenses
- $165,000 fee plus $20,000 expenses totaling $185,000
- $500,000 divided equally between firm and client
Correct answer: $165,000 fee applied to the gross settlement
Under a standard 33% contingency on gross recovery, the fee is $165,000, with expenses addressed separately per the agreement terms.
Question 5: A legal administrator is reviewing a matter where a key witness recanted testimony after settlement. What case management implication does this present?
- The matter can be immediately closed with no further action
- The file should be retained with documentation noting the post-settlement development for potential malpractice defense (Correct answer)
- The settlement should be automatically voided
- The recantation must be reported to the bar association
Correct answer: The file should be retained with documentation noting the post-settlement development for potential malpractice defense
Post-settlement developments should be documented in the file to protect the firm in any subsequent malpractice or ethics claims.
Question 6: Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a firm's case intake screening process?
- Total number of cases accepted per month
- Ratio of cases that proceed past initial assessment to those ultimately generating revenue (Correct answer)
- Average hourly rate of all accepted matters
- Number of conflicts checks performed
Correct answer: Ratio of cases that proceed past initial assessment to those ultimately generating revenue
Tracking how many accepted matters generate revenue reveals whether intake criteria are aligned with firm profitability goals.
Question 7: A client requests a detailed litigation budget for a complex commercial dispute expected to last three years. Which budgeting methodology provides the most accurate multi-phase estimate?
- Flat monthly retainer for the entire matter
- Phase-based budgeting with ranges for discovery, motions, trial preparation, and trial (Correct answer)
- Single lump-sum estimate with no breakdown
- Hourly billing with no prospective budget
Correct answer: Phase-based budgeting with ranges for discovery, motions, trial preparation, and trial
Phase-based budgeting with ranges reflects the variability of litigation stages and allows for meaningful client communication and monitoring.
ALA Case Analysis and Interpretation 2
A legal administrator notices that a high-value litigation matter has had no billing entries for 45 days despite active court deadlines.
What is the most appropriate immediate action?