How an engagement
runs.
Five stages from first brief to closed file — the same method whether the question is a compensation plan or a wetland restoration.
The advisory
cycle.
Each stage produces a document — that's how advice stays on the record.
Brief & scoping memo
The client puts the question in writing; the practice responds with a scope proposal — the question as we understand it, the deliverables, the timeline and the fee basis. Signed before work begins.
Data & conflict check
Information requests issued, source material gathered, any conflicts or overlaps with existing clients disclosed in the file — before the first hour is billed.
Working the file
The analysis: benchmarks, field work, interviews, modeling — whatever the question needs. Working notes stay in the engagement file, organized so the reasoning can be retraced.
Findings & recommendation
The written deliverable — findings, recommended course, alternatives weighed and the basis for each. Signed, dated and delivered; the client keeps the full file.
Closeout & handoff
Engagement memo closed with a summary of what was decided and what was left open. If implementation follows, it runs under a separate agreement with its own scope.
Rules the practice
lives by.
Advice is the product
We sell written counsel, not ongoing dependence — an engagement that can't close hasn't been scoped properly.
Arguable recommendations
A good deliverable shows its work — the client should be able to test the reasoning, not just accept the conclusion.
The memo is the meeting
Working sessions prepare the file; the file is the work. What matters gets written, dated and kept.
Asked of
the desk.
A signed scope memo, a period of analysis, and a written deliverable — that's the whole shape. Engagements are scoped to a question, not a retainer; the deliverable ends the work unless a separate scope is agreed.
Fixed-fee or time-and-expense depending on the question's shape — the fee basis is stated in the scope proposal before any work begins. Rates, expenses and change procedures are all written in the engagement memo.
Implementation is the client's to run — we advise, they decide. Where we participate in execution, it's under a separate agreement with a defined role, timeline and fee structure.
Many do — a site-selection question can touch environmental, logistics and workforce counsel at once. The engagement memo names the divisions involved and the work runs as one file, not three separate bills.
The question,
put in writing.
Describe the problem, the division it belongs to and what a good answer looks like — the office responds with a scope proposal.
Send a brief