Billing conversations are critical to a positive relationship between law firms and clients. And yet many firms struggle to get billing right, says Alex Dimitrief, General Electric Co.’s general counsel.

“Law firms, in all honesty, are terrible at this,” says Dimitrief, who was named GE’s chief lawyer in November 2015. “A law firm should describe what they did and why they are charging what they did. Instead, what you get is an administrative task that law firms delegate to administrative employees who haven’t been involved in the matter.”