Metrics | Valorem Law Group

One of the most significant changes in the profession in recent years has been the increased focus on metrics, particularly by law departments. At the same time, others have wondered aloud (or silently) what metrics are worthy of attention. To help address this, we’ve undertaken a project to identify the universe of metrics law departments and law firms might consider, to be followed by a qualitative assessment of the metrics contained on the list. We welcome input, so if you have a metric that you think should be included on this list, send an email to patrick.lamb@valoremlaw.com. Be careful though -- he'll be a fan of yours for life.

List of Metrics For Law Departments and Law Firms

Metric	Description	Comment
Cycle time	Number of days a matter is open	Longer cycle time correlated to higher fees
Performance to budget	How close is the fee to budget, both plus and minus	Need to protect against people inflating budgets to always “come in under”.
Results to predicted outcomes	Accurate prediction of outcome allows better earlier decisions	Decision trees are a useful tool
Timely work completion	When work plans are created and dates of completion are recorded, completion should be tracked	Allows evaluation of the reliability of planning process
Percentage of holdback buckets awarded	This is not the percentage of the amount of holdbacks but instead the raw number.	Higher percentage is indicative of widespread client satisfaction
Percentage of holdbacks awarded	This is a raw dollars percentage that can exceed 100%	Reflects bonuses and premiums actually paid
Re-engagement percentage	The percentage of clients with on-going matters that retain lawyer/law firm for further matters	Client satisfaction indicator (Law firm version)
Re-use index	1-5 scale on how inclined the client is to re-use the lawyer/law firm	Subjective
Recommendation index	1-5 scale on how inclined the client is recommend lawyer/firm to colleague or friend	Subjective
Creativity Index	Requires client to assign a score on lawyer’s creativity in solving problems, structuring settlements, providing strategy ideas, etc.	Not really susceptible to excessive refinement. Suggest Good/Bad/Neutral or something equally broad
After Action Ratio	Percentage of matters on which firm provides after action assessment	Can be modified to count only those that are considered valuable
Quality of Advice	1-5 scale	Subjective
Quality of Written Product	1-5 scale	Subjective
Quality of Outcomes	1-5 scale	Subjective
Wins v. Losses	Numerical law firm score for trials, arbitrations, contested proceedings
Effective disaggregation	1-5 scale	Subjective
Collaboration	Number of events per month	An event would be two or more people meeting to discuss the case, brainstorm about strategy and tactics, and similar discussions yielding value for client
Average team seniority	Higher average means more experienced team, which is what you want on most non-hourly engagements
Transparency Index	1-5 on how transparent work, work product, planning and strategy is to client	Subjective
Total Value Index	1-5, Factoring in all metrics weighted in whatever manner client sees fit	Subjective
Average number of timekeepers per matter
Average years of experience per matter
Average billing rate per matter
Ratio: Fees to Disbursements
Number of fixed fee matters on which changed fee is requested	Should be 0.	If not, the reasons should be carefully considered.
Percentage of law firm revenue derived from non-hourly fee structures
Percentage of law department spend spent on non-hourly fee structures
% of claims resolved within 30 days of claim (pre-lawsuit, by claims handler)		Purely internal to law department
% of claims resolved within 180 days of service of lawsuit
Legal spend per revenue		Law Department
FTE/revenue		Law Department
Net average hourly rate—law department
Net average hourly rate—law firm
% of external spend on diverse lawyers/firms