Legal or security expenditure does not replace the knowledge analysis.
Explain what the employee actually knows
The standard does not universally require proprietary information. Keep confidentiality costs, business value and immigration preparation charges separate from the evidence of expertise.
Specialized-knowledge petitions attract requests for evidence more often than the executive category, because the central question is a matter of degree rather than of fact. If training another employee would take substantial time, document the factual basis when relevant rather than presenting a large estimate as legal proof. Professional fees for L-1B often run higher than for a comparable L-1A because the specialized-knowledge evidence takes more work to assemble and the offsite-placement issue needs a careful contract review. Price certified apprenticeship records, translations, and any genuinely necessary evaluation separately; then add current official petition charges and scoped legal work without quoting stale amounts. Begin with the particular petition type and current fee schedule, then add translation, document retrieval, shipping, travel, and any work needed to explain specialized knowledge. Assembling proprietary documentation, obtaining internal approval to disclose it and drafting a technically accurate description takes engineering time as well as legal time. Expensive courses do not prove special knowledge of company products or advanced knowledge of internal processes; low-cost mentoring may be probative when resulting expertise is documented.