---
title: "The Road Not Taken: An Alternative Path for Preferred-Provider Programs"
description: Explore a bold new framework for legal provider programs that prioritizes scale, sustainability, and diversity over short-term savings. A must-read by Casey Flaherty for modern law department leaders.
---

# The Road Not Taken: An Alternative Path for Preferred-Provider Programs

December 01, 2024

The Road Not Taken is a bold call for law departments to rethink their external legal spend strategy. With law departments under increasing pressure to deliver more with less, LexFusion’s latest memo by Baretz+Brunelle partner and LexFusion co-founder [Casey Flaherty](https://www.baretzbrunelle.com/casey-flaherty) lays out a compelling roadmap for modernizing legal service delivery—one grounded in systemic change, not superficial savings.

The piece critiques the status quo of preferred-provider programs, noting that most fail to deliver sustained value due to misaligned incentives, rising administrative burdens, and an overfocus on rate discounts. Instead, Casey proposes a four-pronged model: strategic “portfolios” for repeatable work, curated “panels” for frequent but varied matters, a “marketplace” of vetted external talent for the novel and niche, and flexible protocols for “extraordinary” high-impact spend.

At the heart of the approach is the concept of work packaging—organizing legal work into portfolios that allow for scale, innovation, and cost predictability.

The takeaway: legal departments must shift focus from “who gets the work” to “how the work gets done,” and invest accordingly, especially in light of AI reshaping expectations and economic headwinds intensifying.

[Download](https://blog.baretzbrunelle.com/hubfs/LexFusion%20Download%20Files/Red%20Team%20Memo.pdf) the Red Team memo to explore Casey’s insights.

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