LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
APRIL 2016 59
| IN-HOUSE ADVISOR: DATA METRICS |
METRICS THAT MATTER
What to measure for outside counsel performance
>
Per cent of matters for which full-year budget was submitted on time
>
Per cent of matters managed for which forecast updates
were submitted on time
>
Actual spending versus budget, by matter
>
Average blended rate for all law firm attorneys who billed
to the client by matter and across all matters
>
Success in predicting total cost-resolution range for a matter
>
Other process goals, including timely completion and submission of reports,
early case assessments, mock trials, after-action reviews and lessons learned
IN
HOUSE
INSIGHT
to and communicated about budgets.
As it turns out, the hype around Big
Data has been around for years. But 2015
may have been the year that the hype actu-
alized. Drinker Biddle and Littler Mendel-
son P.C. are just two of several American
law firms that established in-house data
analytics practices in 2015.
Human capital, Borden argues, does
not in itself allow a law firm to do work
at a price clients want to pay. "ey need
qualitative empirical information in order
to make the right decision about putting
together the service and the service delivery
team," he maintains.
Besides, the benefits of data analytics are
not limited to efficiency and cost-oriented
information. "Big Data can be huge in case
analysis, e-discovery and in helping clients
leverage information to get the results they
desire," he says.
Lincoln Financial Group, based in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, has gone so far as to use
metrics to calculate win rates, not to be
It's tough to shout metrics
at small law departments,
apart from figuring out
what they're paying their
lawyers, because metrics
only make sense when you
have the volume and type
of data that lends itself
to sensible analysis.
>
REES MORRISON,
ALTMAN WEIL, INC.
