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In-house teams to benefit from greater metrics
A new report has urged department heads to establish credible practice metrics, to better measure the results delivered by in-house teams.
Emma Musgrave
Originally published on Corporate Counsel, the report by UK-based market research company Acritas analysed the metrics currently being used by over 1,000 legal departments to measure success alongside their articulated goals.
“Analysis of the 75 per cent using metrics revealed an over-emphasis on cost (33 per cent) as opposed to proactive risk management, effective legal support and creating value through efficiency – a clear mismatch with legal department goals,” said Lisa Hart-Shepherd, CEO at Acritas.
“Legal departments have for too long been measured on spend alone, which does not address in any way the core purpose of the function.
“Of course, optimising value from legal spend is critically important, and increasingly so through the last decade, but this has to be secondary to maximising commercial return and minimising legal risks and losses.”
Ms Hart-Shepherd noted that the results enable GC to make an objective analysis of their value.
“We created the Acritas PEER model to help legal department heads measure and benchmark their performance and contribution to the wider organisation in a more meaningful way,” she said.
“In turn, this will also enable others such as CFOs, who often determine legal departments’ budgets and resources, to better understand the broader scope of the value being added, and what may be lost through potentially dangerous cuts.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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