Legal operations metrics are quantitative measurements that allow teams to spot trends and patterns, whereas key performance indicators (KPIs) are strategic metrics tied to specific business goals. By distinguishing between raw data, metrics, and KPIs, legal departments can drive efficiency, foster accountability, and demonstrate clear business impact.
At the ELM Amplify 2025 user conference, legal operations professionals gathered to discuss the industry's most pressing challenges, including the need to transform raw numbers into strategic value. While most departments have access to vast amounts of information, the true value lies in distinguishing between simple data collection and strategic measurement.
What is the difference between data, metrics, and KPIs?
To build a successful analytics program, it’s essential to clarify the terminology. Many professionals use "data," "metrics," and "KPIs" interchangeably, yet they represent distinct stages in the maturity of information. By distinguishing between raw data, metrics, and KPIs, legal departments can drive efficiency, foster accountability, and demonstrate clear business impact.
Data
Data refers to raw facts and figures, or the unprocessed inputs found in your systems. Examples include time entries, invoice amounts, and matter types. The priority at this stage is hygiene; systems must capture clean, structured, and complete data. Without validation sources and standardized formats, analysis is impossible.
Metrics
Metrics are quantitative measurements derived from the data. Metrics allow you to spot trends, outliers, and patterns. Common examples include total legal spend, spend by practice area, or the number of matters opened each month.
Key performance indicators
KPIs are strategic metrics tied specifically to business goals. A metric becomes a KPI when it tracks progress toward an objective, such as the percentage of matters using alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) or cycle time reduction for contract reviews.
The most impactful metrics directly support business objectives. When legal operations professionals align metrics with key initiatives, they demonstrate value that resonates with the broader organization. For example, if a department aims to consolidate its outside counsel panel, tracking the "panel firm use rate" becomes a critical KPI. By making this metric visible, the department drives behavior.
How to build effective legal dashboards
A common pitfall in legal operations is the rush to build dashboards based on initial requests. While everyone wants a dashboard, few stakeholders know exactly what should be on it. Legal ops professionals should adopt a consultative, iterative approach.
- Start with the "why": Dashboards should answer a business question or support a decision, not just display widgets. Ask stakeholders what problem they are trying to solve.
- Guide discovery: Use consultative conversations to uncover priorities. For example, if the request is for a report on total spend, the underlying need might be to identify negotiation leverage.
- Build iteratively: Dashboards are rarely perfect on the first attempt. Look for recurring leadership questions and use those to shape the visual output.
Include internal team and resource metrics
Many legal operations teams focus on building dashboards anchored by key metrics for spend, savings, and outside counsel management, and deprioritize presenting data about internal legal team operations. However, transparency creates accountability. When stakeholders can see how their choices impact the goal, they are more likely to align with the strategy. Consider including KPIs around invoice exceptions, percentage of matters with budget, or even internal legal NPS scores in order to help push key legal team strategies forward for the business.
Strategies for presenting data to lawyers
Some lawyers may not intuitively see the story behind the numbers in their dashboards, but the legal operations team can help bridge this gap. For instance, rather than showing a raw table of workload distribution, explain that the data indicates a staffing imbalance in a specific region that requires immediate attention. This emphasizes the questions the data can answer, not just the numbers themselves.
Additionally, data quality is the foundation of trust. If structures are inconsistent or codes are vague, the metrics become unreliable. Scrubbing and structuring data ensures that when you present findings to leadership, the focus remains on the strategic insights rather than the validity of the numbers. The journey from raw data to strategic insight is not instantaneous. It requires a commitment to data governance, a willingness to iterate on reporting tools, and a thoughtful approach to communication. Data is not just about reporting on the past. When used thoughtfully, it is a powerful tool for shaping the future of the legal function.
