5 Steps To Metrics: Stephanie Corey’s Guide To Building A Data-Driven Legal Department

In-house counsel at companies of any size can benefit from the data-driven power of metrics.

In today’s tech-powered business world, data is paramount. And as lawyers, we are no strangers to hoarding information. But to truly make the most of data, it’s important to not just hoard, but track. Attorneys in-house often want to know what they should be tracking, where would they should get the data, and how they can get their teams to start caring about the whole process. Stephanie Corey is the co-founder of UpLevel Ops, which provides a range of legal operations support to companies, and the co-founder of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC). Corey also used to work at major technology companies such as VMware and Hewlett Packard Company. With her wealth of expertise harnessing the power of metrics, Corey definitely has straight answers to these questions.

Corey likes to start with the “Why?” of metrics. She asks, “Why track metrics in the first place?” According to her, “First and foremost, you can’t control what you don’t measure. The data collected keeps you well-informed about what’s going on in your department.” She continues, “Without it, how do you know whether or not you’re delivering effective legal services? The truth is, you don’t!” Corey also explains, “By collecting and analyzing data, you can ensure that you’re focusing your resources on what’s most important to the company. And over time, this data tells a story, with a past (where you’ve been), present (what’s going on today), and future (what is the trend showing for tomorrow and beyond?). This data will also let you know when you’ve hit (or missed) your targets.”

The next question to ask is “What?” “What should the metrics look like?” asks Corey. “First, it should be clear to everyone what the metric is and why it’s being tracked. For instance, if you’re focused on pulling more work in-house and reducing outside counsel spend, those priorities will affect the metrics that are meaningful to you.” She explains that the metrics may include:

  • Internal people spend to external outside counsel spend (is outside counsel spend decreasing as you hire internal heads?)
  • Spend with specific firms (are you sending trivial matters to expensive firms?)
  • Budget to actual (are your firms doing a decent job of budgeting accurately?)
  • Year-over-year trends
  • AFA usage

Corey also adds that if you’re implementing a new Ethics and Compliance program, perhaps you want to measure:

  • Types of matters being reported
  • Root causes of matters
  • Matters by location
  • Average time to resolve

“The point is, the metrics should support whatever goals you’re trying to achieve,” Corey says. She adds, “Good metrics will help you drive the strategy of the department and provide focus and performance for your team.”

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The final question is “How?” Knowing about metrics isn’t enough — attorneys also need to have a definite strategy for implementing them. How can you take the steps to establish effective metrics?  Corey says, “The first thing you want to do is identify what you want to measure. If you’re a nerdy MBA like me, you may even want to think of the ‘SMART’ acronym when defining your metrics — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based.” Corey also recommends that your strategy be goal-oriented. “Be sure that what you’re measuring supports the company’s goals,” she says. “In other words, the CEO’s goals should influence the GC’s goals, and the legal department metrics should measure the progress towards those goals.” She adds, “This is a critical step in getting buy-in from the team.” This is especially crucial considering the high degree of coordinated investment required to successfully implement metrics. “Once you move towards a data-driven legal department, there is a good chance that you may need to change many of your processes and possibly even your culture, and because of that, you need the team to buy-in to these changes,” explains Corey. “Gaining an understanding of how their activities influence the company’s goals is an important step in this process.”

Corey adds, “Another consideration is understanding where the data resides and the best way to collect it.  Some of that data will be easy to collect, such as spend data out of your eBilling system. But other data might be tough, especially if you don’t have the systems in place designed to track and report, and therefore will need to be collected and tracked manually.” Corey also emphasizes the importance of processing your gathered data. “Once you’ve got collection figured out, you’re ready for the fourth step, which is to monitor and analyze the results regularly through dashboards and reports.”

Finally, it is important to use the data and share the results. Corey says, “The data you collect should drive decision making and effect change, and the results should be communicated regularly to the team to keep them motivated and interested in continuing the metrics program.” To make your metrics truly valuable, they need to be visible and have a tangible impact.

Despite her clear enthusiasm for data-driven legal departments, Corey ultimately recommends moderation. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew!” she says. “Start small, because going through all these steps is hard and it takes time.” She adds, “A few meaningful metrics is better than 25 metrics that are used for nothing. Change them if they need to change and stop if they’re not being used. Metrics should evolve with your changing department, and at the end of the day will show all the great progress you and your team have made.” While easing into metrics is no small task, with Corey’s five-step process, in-house counsel at companies of any size can benefit from the data-driven power of metrics.


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Olga V. Mack is an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to serve on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw to prepare women in-house attorneys become general counsel and legal leaders and WISE to help women law firm partners become rainmakers. She embraces the current disruption to the legal profession. Olga loves this change and is dedicated to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and inclusive than before. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack.