“How many contracts did Legal review last quarter?” It sounds like a useful question…but it doesn’t really tell business leaders what they want to know.
For years, in-house legal teams have measured success by how much work they handle: the number of contracts reviewed, matters opened, or hours logged. Those numbers demonstrate how busy the team is, but they don’t prove the team’s value to the business.
Today’s executives want more. The C-suite expects Legal Ops to show how the department accelerates deals, reduces disputes, and enables growth. In other words: metrics that connect legal work to business outcomes.
This shift from volume metrics to value metrics is reshaping how legal teams track performance and justify investment — and earn a seat at the strategy table.
To be clear: counting contracts, matters, or hours isn’t useless. Those numbers establish a baseline. They tell you how much work is moving across the desk, and they’re often the first thing executives ask for when they want a quick snapshot of workload.
But volume only tells part of the story. Reviewing 500 contracts in a quarter sounds impressive — until you discover that half of them got bogged down in escalations, or that business stakeholders are still frustrated with turnaround times.
That’s the problem with raw volume: it measures activity, not impact. High numbers might mean efficiency…or they might mean lawyers are bogged down in repetitive, low-value tasks. Without context, it’s impossible to tell the difference.
To prove value, Legal Ops needs to show how that workload translates into business outcomes: faster sales, fewer disputes, stronger compliance, and smarter use of resources. That’s why forward-looking Legal Ops teams go beyond “what” was done to measure the “so what” — how that work impacts revenue speed, risk reduction, and business satisfaction.
So if “500 contracts” isn’t the headline, what is? Forward-looking legal ops teams are tracking metrics that connect their work directly to business results:
How long does it take to move from first draft to signature? Faster contracting means faster revenue recognition — a language CFOs and CROs understand immediately.
Contracts with fewer late-stage redlines or post-closing disputes indicate higher drafting quality and lower risk exposure.
The percentage of contracts executed in line with playbooks, policies, and regulations shows whether the department is protecting the business at scale.
By reducing time spent on low-value tasks, legal teams can show executives how each lawyer handles more strategic work without burning out.
Business stakeholders are often looking for the same thing as you, just in different words. For sales, it’s deal speed. For finance, it’s risk predictability and cost control. For leadership, it’s evidence that the legal department is not a bottleneck, but a driver of growth. If you can speak their language, you can demonstrate your legal team’s value effectively.
Building a Smarter Metrics Program
It’s tempting to measure everything you can, but a smart metrics program is about focus, not volume. Here’s how legal ops teams can build something sustainable, using meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs):
Volume metrics have their place, but they’re only the first step. To earn influence and resources, legal teams need to measure not just how much work gets done, but how that work moves the business forward.
That’s where smarter KPIs come in: cycle times, compliance rates, dispute avoidance, and stakeholder satisfaction. These aren’t just numbers; they’re evidence that Legal is accelerating revenue, reducing risk, and enabling growth.
Want to dig deeper into which metrics matter most, and how to use tools such as BoostDraft to boost efficiency and accuracy? Download our free guide, In-House Metrics That Matter: Legal Ops KPIs and Contract ROI, and start turning data into real business impact.