Spend Control for Legal Review Agents
Legal review agents process contracts and discovery — paid inference and data per matter. Per-matter budgets, defensible logs.
Where legal review agents spend
Document review inference per page.
Paywalled legal data per query.
Discovery pipelines per GB.
The failure modes
A re-review after a prompt change multiplies inference.
Unknown research vendors bypass procurement.
Which rules to start with
Per-matter ceiling.
Merchant allowlist for approved databases.
Category rule: review vs research.
Spend map
| Legal review spend | Control |
|---|---|
| Document review | Per-matter ceiling |
| Legal data | Merchant allowlist |
| Discovery | Per-matter cap |
FAQ
Can I enforce per-client budgets?
Yes — per-agent rules map to per-matter ceilings.
Is the trail defensible?
Every decision is logged — an evidence source, not a certification.
Related
Stop the next $12,400 night.
One API call (or MCP tool) in front of every agent transaction — APPROVED, BLOCKED, or FLAGGED, deterministic, ~5 ms, fully logged.
See plans — from $99/mo Try a live check