Pending Cases per Litigation Attorney

Pending Cases per Litigation Attorney

KPI Details

Pending Cases per Litigation Attorney measures the total number of pending (active cases that have not yet been closed/settled) legal cases in relation to the number of in-house litigation attorneys working for the company at the same point in time. A relatively low value for this metric is typically related to a few common factors, including inaccurate demand forecasting in attorney hiring (i.e., not hiring enough attorneys to meet the legal needs of the company), highly manual (i.e., error and rework prone) litigation processes and procedures (e.g., manual exchange of legal documents during the discovery phase, etc.), excessive time spent on low-value work (e.g., printing, scanning, etc.), general inefficiencies within litigation processes (e.g., poor document management, lack of prompt responsiveness to legal issues, untimely communication with management, a lack of arbitration settlement attempts, insufficient research on legal procedural issues, etc.), and sub-par Legal Department employee training and performance. Each of these factors can result in prolonged litigation cycle times and an increased probability that the case will be settled at a loss.

KPI Definition

The total number of pending (active cases that have not yet been closed/settled) legal cases divided by the number of in-house litigation attorneys working for the company at the same point in time.

KPI Calculation Instructions Pending Cases per Litigation Attorney?

Two values are used to calculate this KPI: (1) the total number of pending legal cases, and (2) the number of in-house litigation attorneys working for the company at the same point in time. A pending legal case should be considered to be an active case that has not yet been closed/settled. A settlement should be considered to be a resolution between disputing parting about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. Include all active cases, whether the cases have begun trial proceedings or not, in the numerator. An attorney should be considered to be any employee whose core job function is to perform criminal and civil legal functions on behalf of the company. These functions include providing legal counsel, drafting legal documents, and representing clients before courts, administrative agencies and other tribunals.

KPI Formula :

Total Number of Pending Cases / Number of In-House Attorneys