 Legal KPIs List

• Outside Counsel Fees as a percentage of Total Legal Expense – We strive to reduce Outside Counsel Fees as a percentage of Total Legal Expense, to minimize reliance on external legal services and optimize internal resources.
• Attorneys per Legal Admin FTE – We strive to increase the Attorneys per Legal Admin FTE ratio, enhancing operational efficiency by ensuring the right balance between attorneys and support staff.
• Legal Department Headcount Ratio – We strive to improve the Legal Department Headcount Ratio, ensuring an appropriate allocation of resources by aligning the number of company-wide FTEs with each legal FTE for optimal productivity.

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• Percentage of Litigation Cases Won – We strive to increase the Percentage of Litigation Cases Won, striving for a higher success rate in legal disputes and ensuring favorable outcomes for the firm.
• Average Total Cost of Case (TCC) – We strive to reduce the Average Total Cost of Case (TCC), focusing on lowering the overall expenses involved in litigation, including legal fees, settlements, and regulatory costs.
• Pre-Discovery Resolution Rate – We strive to improve the Pre-Discovery Resolution Rate, striveing to resolve more cases before entering the discovery phase, thus saving time and reducing legal expenses.
• Average Fee per New Client – We strive to increase the Average Fee per New Client, optimizing the profit generated from each new customer by enhancing service value and client engagement.

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• Percentage of FTEs Trained in Legal Compliance Techniques – We strive to increase the Percentage of FTEs Trained in Legal Compliance Techniques, ensuring that more employees are equipped with the necessary skills to manage risk and uphold legal standards.
• Policy Audit Frequency – We strive to reduce the Policy Audit Frequency, shortening the time between legal compliance assessments to maintain up-to-date operational policies across the firm.

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• Percentage of Partners’ Hours – We strive to reduce the Percentage of Partners’ Hours, focusing on better delegation of tasks to associates and other timekeepers to optimize resource utilization.
• Outside Counsel Evaluation Frequency – We strive to increase the Outside Counsel Evaluation Frequency, conducting more frequent assessments to ensure consistent quality and performance from outside counsel.
• Associates-to-Partners Ratio – We strive to improve the Associates-to-Partners Ratio, striving for a balanced and effective distribution of work between associates and partners for enhanced team efficiency.

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• Composite Risk Index – We strive to reduce the Composite Risk Index, minimizing the impact and likelihood of risk incidents through effective risk management strategies.
• Merger Integration Cycle Time – We strive to reduce the Merger Integration Cycle Time, shortening the time taken to complete integration after a merger agreement is authorized to achieve smoother transitions and faster results.

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• Cost per Trademark Registered – We strive to reduce the cost per registered trademark by optimizing expenses related to trademarks prepared in a year.
• Average Time to Product – We strive to reduce the average time to product by shortening the number of days between a patent being awarded and its introduction to consumer products or services.
• Transfer Ratio (3 year period) – We strive to increase the transfer ratio over a 3-year period by improving the percentage of submitted patent requests that are awarded by the USPTO.
• Patent Disclosure-to-Filing Cycle Time – We strive to reduce the patent disclosure-to-filing cycle time by decreasing the number of days between disclosure and filing of patent applications.
• Trademark Disclosure-to-Filing Cycle Time – We strive to reduce the trademark disclosure-to-filing cycle time by decreasing the number of days between disclosure and the filing of trademark applications.
• Copyright Disclosure-to-Filing Cycle Time – We strive to reduce the copyright disclosure-to-filing cycle time by minimizing the number of days from disclosure to copyright filing.
• Percentage of Granted Patents – We strive to increase the percentage of granted patents by ensuring a higher success rate in awarded patents versus the number of patents filed.
• IP Conflicts Resolved – We strive to increase the number of IP conflicts resolved by settling more intellectual property rights disputes yearly.
• Percentage of Granted Copyrights – We strive to increase the percentage of granted copyrights by improving the success rate of registered copyrights compared to those filed.
• Percentage of Granted Trademarks – We strive to increase the percentage of granted trademarks by enhancing the registration rate compared to the number of trademarks filed.
• Number of Trademark Violations – We strive to reduce the number of trademark violations by minimizing offenses related to trademarks each year.

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• Increase staffing (internal) or billing (external) of paralegals to lawyers – This KPI measures the number of paralegals in relation to the number of attorneys. These paralegals are internally employed or hired as external consultants and paid per hour for their services. The higher the number of paralegals to lawyers, the more efficient the lawyer’s work process flows.
• Matter practice area and which department raised the matter – This KPI measures and tracks the number of practice areas and departments that raised matters and sent them to the legal time. The greater the number of issues and the more diverse the number of departments that raised matters, the more effective and efficient the legal team.
• Improve the legal matter time and expense versus administrative tasks – This KPI measures and tracks the time spent on administrative tasks versus the time spent on the legal matters themselves. It also tracks the cost of the time spent on admin tasks in relation to the cost of the time spent working on legal matters.
• Improve the legal matters handled versus revenue – This KPI measures and tracks the time spent on administrative tasks versus the time spent on the legal matters themselves. It also tracks the cost of the time spent on admin tasks in relation to the cost of the time spent working on legal matters.
• Number of law firm secondees and/or contractors vs permanent staff – A secondee is an employee that is seconded to a host company from an originating company. The originating firm still employs the secondee. This KPI tracks and measures the secondee and consultant versus permanent employees ratio.
• Improve the time taken for legal invoice processing and payment – This KPI tracks and measures the time taken for legal invoice processing and payment. The longer the time taken, the less efficient the legal team, and vice versa.
• Improve deadline compliance – The deadline compliance KPI tracks and measures how many matters meet the compliance deadline in relation to the total number of matters the legal team is dealing with at any given moment.
• Improve the total cost of services (inside and outside) – This KPI tracks and measures the total cost of services, both internal and external. The lower the cost of services rendered to the legal team, the greater its top and bottom lines.
• Improve the legal spend as a percentage of revenue – The legal spend as a percentage of revenue KPI tracks and measures the ratio between the legal spend and overall revenue. The lower the spend, the greater the revenue. The higher the spend, the lower the revenue.
• Improve the budget-to-actual spend comparison – The budget-to actual spend comparison KPI compares the amount budgeted versus the actual amount spent per line item on the legal team’s budget. The closer the total spend is to the budgeted amount, the higher the legal team’s efficiencies.
• Outside expense versus in-house – This KPI tracks and measures external versus in-house expenses. Small businesses benefit from outsourcing specialist functions. When a company passes an income-generation threshold, it becomes more cost-effective to employ in-house specialists. This KPI allows management to determine where this threshold is, to decide when to hire an in-house legal team.
• In-house lawyers versus revenue – The in-house lawyers versus revenue KPI tracks and measures the cost of hiring in-house lawyers versus the legal team’s income. The higher this metric, the more effective and productive the legal team.
• Improve (reduce) the cost per matter – This KPI tracks and measures the cost of each legal matter. The lower the cost, the greater the legal team’s profitability metrics.
• Improve (reduce) the cost per lawyer – The cost per lawyer KPI tracks and measures the cost of retaining an in-house attorney versus the income the attorney generates. The lower the cost, the greater the lawyer’s efficiency, productivity, and throughput, and the greater the company’s top and bottom lines.
• Spend after implementing e-billing compared to spend without implementing e-billing – E-billing is the issuing and sending of invoices via an electronic platform. This KPIs measures the ratio between the e-billing process versus the traditional manual process. The aim is to determine which is more efficient, e-billing, or traditional billing.

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• Improve the pre-bills turnaround time – This KPI tracks and measures the time it takes to compile a draft invoice, send it for approval and finalization, and then send it to the client for payment. The shorter the turnaround time, the greater the paralegal department’s efficiencies.
• Increase production requirements – The production requirements’ KPI tracks and measures the paralegal department’s ability to remain engaged and productive over time; the higher this metric, the greater the output and the more successful the paralegal department.

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