What’s the value of a budget? As corporations ask GCs and in-house counsel to do more with less, a legal department’s budget is an essential tool. It provides the map to fiscal success and can help steer a department through unpredictable legal matter waters. Decisions about litigation or investigation matters within the department and other recommendations in-house counsel make to the CFO and board can have a significant impact on the overall health, finances and reputation of the company. If a legal department is tracking individual legal matter spend against budget and the department as a whole, then in-house counsel can offer some level of predictability on costs.