The most effective happen when legal ops teams treat their outside counsel like pro athletes.
Stay with us — both (expensive) parties are hired to fulfill a specific need, whether to handle complex litigation or lead a more aggressive offense. In sports, coaches and GMs determine how well their player is meeting that goal by tracking concrete stats. For example, the Buffalo Bills quarterback has evaluated annually on passes attempted vs. completed touchdowns, and yards gained by passing.
Create a vendor scorecard
Stay with us — both (expensive) parties are hired to fulfill a specific need, whether to handle complex litigation or lead a more aggressive offense. In sports, coaches and GMs determine how well their player is meeting that goal by tracking concrete stats. For example, the Buffalo Bills quarterback has evaluated annually on passes attempted vs. completed touchdowns, and yards gained by passing.
Standardize your vendor reviews by using law firm metrics to create a vendor scorecard. A consistent rubric ensures fair evaluation of outside counsel and determines clear performance benchmarks.
Support pricing negotiations
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Spend data: Spend by firm, spend by matter, spend to budget, spend by practice area
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Billing data: Accruals vs. actuals, billable hours, time to process invoices, invoice approval rates, and billing guidelines violations
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Vendor data: Average timekeeper rates, rate discounts, and alternative fee arrangements (AFAs)
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best.
St. Jerome
Determine where you need in-house counsel vs. outside counsel
Let’s say you review your matter data and see that your company has seen a steady increase in intellectual property (IP) matters. Instead of just keeping the work with its current owner, you can look at law firm metrics and legal analytics on your in-house counsel to objectively determine:
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Who has the expertise on hand to handle this work (partners, senior counsel)
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Your average spend on IP matters internally vs. externally
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Historical total cost of IP matters internally vs. externally
