34. Law Firms Use All the Wrong Metrics to Define Success

There isn't a client anywhere who allocates work based on "revenue per lawyer" or "profit per equity partner." These things may be the results of good performance — but they don't define performance. Even so, these metrics are firmly established as the tools which law firms use to judge their own success.

October 03, 2024 at 04:05 PM

2 minute read

The original version of this story was published on Lean Adviser

"Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render" — Earl Nightingale, Radio presenter and author

What truly defines success for law firms? This is the question posed by Caroline Byrne this week in an article on Law.com International. Caroline's piece helpfully identified the usual metrics which law firms use to define success. These include:

Revenue;
Headcount growth;
Revenue per lawyer;
Billable hours; &
Profit per equity partner

Sound familiar? But from a Lean Adviser standpoint, one thing immediately jumps out. Law firms use these metrics to measure performance and success, but clients do not. This matters because these measures may say something about progress against peers, but they don't say anything about performance.

There isn't a client anywhere who allocates work based on "revenue per lawyer" or "profit per equity partner." These things may be the results of good performance — but they don't define performance.

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