Stage 01
Trigger Zone
What Forces Explanation
⚠ Critical Events- Client billing disputes
- Corporate bill review
- Scope changes mid-matter
- Conflict questions
- Trust account audits
Stage 02
Reactive State
Without Governance
⚡ Reconstruction Tax- Approvals scattered in emails
- Conflicting partner memories
- Manual reconstruction
- Emergency write-downs
- Lost credibility
Stage 03
Infrastructure Layer
Governance Installed
→ Transition- Authorization captured
- Scope changes logged
- Evidence automatic
- Single source of truth
- Immutable audit trail
Stage 04
Defensible State
Evidence Control
✓ Protected- Billing answered instantly
- Reduced write-downs
- Quick audit responses
- Conflicts resolved
- M&A ready