Value-based pricing is a scope problem
By , Solution Architect, Cognia Law
From Cognia’s perspective
Value-based pricing is having a moment in legal services. Clients want predictability. Firms want margin protection. And almost everyone agrees the billable hour is a blunt instrument for pricing most types of legal work.
But there is a quieter truth behind the rhetoric. Value-based pricing only works when scope is transparent. The moment scope drifts, the model collapses, and the conversation defaults back to time and rates.
That is the discipline a recent repapering project tested for us.
The brief came from one of South Africa’s Big 4 banks. The volume was significant, the regulatory pressure was real, and the timeline was tight. Repapering work at this scale is deceptively complex. It looks like high-volume contract repapering, but the dependencies between work streams, phasing, and resource allocation make it one of the harder commercial challenges in legal services to price accurately.
We are using Telescope to manage the evolving project scope. Telescope is a legal matter management platform built specifically for the commercial discipline that value-based pricing demands. We are using it to translate the original pricing and resource estimates into trackable metrics across every phase and work stream of the programme.
Three things are shaping how we deliver the work.
The first is structural. Setting up the matter inside the platform and integrating it with our time keeping tool has required us to define time tracking metrics that align directly with the budget. This creates a clear link between what we estimate and what we measure as the work progresses. That alignment is the foundation of every fixed-fee or value-based arrangement, and most firms underestimate how hard it is to get right.
The second is scenario planning. Repapering scope shifts. It always does. Telescope’s ability to model multiple timelines and resource scenarios means we can test the commercial impact of potential changes before agreeing to them. This helps us manage write-off risk in advance, rather than absorbing it after the fact.
The third is the advisory layer. We are using Telescope’s consulting offering as a sense check to identify dependencies or assumptions that need further attention as the scope evolves. The platform is strong on its own. Paired with the advisory input, it helps close the gap between methodology and execution.
The wider lesson emerging from the project is one the legal market is still catching up to. Alternative fee arrangements are not simply a pricing exercise. They are a scoping, delivery and relationship exercise. They depend on trust and transparency between client and provider, supported by a shared view of scope, progress and change. Telescope helps create that shared view. The firms that will lead this shift are the ones investing in the operational discipline and trusted relationships that make commercial models defensible, not just attractive.
For Cognia, that discipline is non-negotiable. It is how we protect clients from surprises and protect ourselves from margin erosion. And it is why we will keep investing in the tools and providers that take scope as seriously as we do.
Aaran Scott, Founder of Telescope
“Partnering with a forward-thinking organisation like Cognia Law has been invaluable in transforming our concept into a tangible product that delivers results. Demonstrating just how our methodology, combined with our technology, can enable legal teams to move beyond retrospective reporting and toward active matter management.
Telescope provides clients real-time visibility into scope, budget consumption, resource allocation, and delivery progress across every phase of a matter. That transparency creates earlier, more informed conversations about change, enabling stakeholders to make confident decisions before commercial risk materialises. Rather than discovering overruns after delivery, clients gain a shared view of how work is tracking against agreed assumptions and outcomes.
For service providers, the benefit is equally significant. Telescope reduces write-off exposure, improves pricing defensibility, and creates a structured framework for managing scope evolution without undermining trust. By aligning scoping, delivery, and reporting within a single platform, firms can deliver value-based pricing models with greater confidence, consistency, and commercial discipline.
The support, time and mentoring provided by Janet and Peter at Cognia have been invaluable as we transform Telescope from a concept into tangible results”
About Cognia
Cognia evolves the legal services operating model, embedding AI and automation where it’s best leveraged, and delivers the managed services resulting in sustainable change with measurable outcomes. Powered by legal engineering – where legal expertise meets technology and service design - we replace the cost and complexity of traditional legal delivery with speed, certainty, and measurable value. We shift how your people work, manage and think through legal transformation consulting, managed legal services, and flexible resourcing. We don’t just support change. We enable it. Cognia is founder-led and independently operated.
We are trusted partners to 3 of the top 10 FTSE 100 companies and 30% of the top 25 global banks, as well as leading global technology companies.
