Tell Your Legal Team’s Story with 12 Key Performance Indicators

According to Brightflag’s Sinead Kenny, key performance indicators (KPIs) for legal departments do more than just quantify work; they shape the story of the team’s impact. Legal operations professionals can utilize KPIs to align legal services with broader company strategies, ensuring transparency and fostering collaboration. 

Effective KPIs are simple, measurable, and time-bound. When selected thoughtfully, they become a tool for continuous improvement. Legal operations professionals should focus on three to five KPIs at the department level, then select three to five KPIs for each team within the department. Depending on the department’s size, three to five individual-level metrics can also be chosen. 

The selection process begins with understanding the company’s overall objectives, followed by identifying legal functions that support those priorities. Some examples might be driving faster matter cycles for intellectual property matters, reducing contract cycle times for sales, or cutting external legal spend during budget tightening.

Common legal KPIs fall into 12 categories, including spend, time, and broader operational insights. Spend-focused KPIs track metrics like legal spend as a percentage of revenue, budget versus actual spend, and cost per matter. 

Time-based KPIs such as matter cycle time and total number of hours saved through automation help identify areas for process improvement. Other important indicators include internal client satisfaction, number of matters, and progress on key initiatives. Tracking matters by risk and complexity helps anticipate future resource needs and identify opportunities for automation or outsourcing.

No matter the size of your legal team, tracking key performance indicators ensures that legal contributes meaningfully to business outcomes. These metrics not only reflect performance but also support smarter decision-making, proving that the legal department is a strategic asset within the organization.