Find the real cause of write-offs with 5 Whys
Use 5 Whys to identify a process-level cause behind repeated legal-fee write-offs.
The practice wrote off $42,000 after associates spent more time than the fixed-fee estimate allowed on three contract-review matters. 5 Whys: ask why the problem happened until you reach a fixable cause, then define a countermeasure. The common trap is stopping at the first human explanation. Associates took too long may be a symptom, but it does not show what management should change in scoping, staffing, review depth, or client expectation-setting. Why 1 Why was there a write-off? Because actual review time exceeded the fixed-fee estimate by 38 percent. Start with the measured gap, not a judgment about effort. Why…
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