I have suggested a de facto ladder of discounts for increasing volumes of fees (See my post of Aug. 8, 2006: tiered discounts from hourly rates.). A corollary of that technique would be for law departments to hold back increasing amounts as the volume of their invoices to a given firm on a matter rise (See my post of Feb. 12, 2009: hold-back arrangements with firms with 7 references.).
In other words, if the law department holds back 15 percent of the amount billed, and later distributes some, all, or more than the amount back amount based on outcome or performance, it would make sense for the law department to increase the percentage held back as fees rise.