The 7 KPIs Every Partner Should Track Monthly — But Almost None Do
Law Firm Partners Love Numbers… Just Not the Right Ones
Many partners review a lot of numbers:
total revenue, bank balance, new matters opened, AR, trust balance.
But those aren’t KPIs — they’re lagging indicators.
They tell you what already happened, not what’s happening now or what’s about to happen next.
A true KPI gives you predictive visibility.
It tells you:
• whether revenue will dip
• whether your team is overwhelmed
• whether client satisfaction is dropping
• whether your pricing is wrong
• whether your intake is breaking down
• whether you’re about to have a staffing issue
• whether your partner alignment is slipping
Yet almost no partners track the ones that matter.
Here are the seven KPIs every partner should be reviewing monthly — and why they matter far more than your standard financials.
1. Lead-to-Consult Conversion Rate
Most firms think their marketing is weak when their intake is actually the problem.
Lead-to-consult tells you:
• the quality of your leads
• the responsiveness of your intake team
• whether the team is actually following up
• whether your follow-up cadence is working
• whether intake is overwhelmed
• whether CRM stages are accurate
If this number dips, your revenue will dip within 45–90 days.
2. Consult-to-Hire Conversion Rate
This is the ultimate sales KPI.
A dip here means:
• your consultation process is weak
• your scripts aren’t working
• your consults aren’t structured
• someone on your team is not the right person to run consults
• your pricing is off
• competitor messaging is beating you
• your reputation is losing edge
This KPI predicts revenue within 15–30 days.
3. Average Matter Value (or Average Client Value)
Partners often obsess over the number of new matters instead of the value of those matters.
Average matter value shows:
• whether your pricing is accurate
• whether you’re attracting the right clients
• whether your attorneys are discounting
• whether your packages need refinement
• whether your practice area mix is profitable
• whether your marketing is reaching your target profile
A small rise in matter value can increase revenue faster than doubling lead volume.
4. A/R Over 31 Days
Not total AR — that number hides everything.
AR over 31 days tells you:
• whether attorneys are billing promptly
• whether clients are being asked for payment
• whether payment follow-up exists
• whether collections processes work
• whether someone is quietly ignoring billing (common in partner fatigue cycles)
See our previous blog to learn more about the partner fatigue problem and where operational burnout causes billing discipline to slip.
5. Utilization Rate (Per Attorney and Per Department)
This is not “hours billed.”
This is:
hours billed ÷ hours worked.
Most firms underestimate how much time attorneys spend on non-billable work due to:
• poor staffing
• weak delegation
• broken workflows
• administrative burdens
• lack of paralegal support
• inefficient tools
A healthy boutique utilization rate often sits between 65–75 percent — anything significantly lower signals an operations issue, not a talent issue.
6. Repeat Client Rate
This KPI tells you more about your reputation than Google Reviews ever will.
Low repeat client rate usually means:
• inconsistent client communication
• poor turnaround times
• clients don’t feel guided
• attorneys are overwhelmed
• intake-to-paralegal workflow is sloppy
• clients aren’t informed or reassured proactively
High repeat client rate indicates:
• trust in your brand
• operational consistency
• high value perception
• predictable work quality
This metric predicts your future stability.
7. Cost Per Hire (or Cost Per Matter)
The talent market is shifting fast — particularly in Dallas.
If your cost per hire (or per matter) is rising while your systems remain unchanged, it's a sign your operations haven’t adapted.
Costs rise when:
• staffing is reactive instead of strategic
• turnover is high
• paralegal shortages strain workflow
• onboarding is inefficient
• recruiting fees spike
• firms compensate for operational dysfunction by throwing people at the problem
This KPI tells you whether you’re scaling intentionally or chaotically.
Why Most Partners Don’t Track These KPIs
Not because they don’t want clarity — but because the firm isn’t set up to support it.
Partners skip these numbers when:
• CRM data is messy
• intake reporting is inaccurate
• dashboards aren’t built
• KPIs aren’t defined
• no one owns the reporting cycle
• no leadership cadence exists to review them
• the firm has grown faster than its systems
• accountability structures are soft or nonexistent
• partners are misaligned (Week 31 Blog 1)
You can’t track good KPIs on bad data.
The COO’s Role in Making KPIs Actually Work
Installing KPIs is not about giving partners more numbers.
It’s about building operational truth.
Here’s what I typically do as a Fractional COO when implementing KPI systems:
Define the KPIs that actually matter
Build reporting mechanisms around them
Clean up CRM and intake data so the KPIs are accurate
Create dashboards that partners can understand at a glance
Establish a monthly or quarterly leadership rhythm to review them
Train attorneys and staff on what the KPIs mean
Drive accountability to actually influence the numbers
Firms shouldn’t drown in data; they should anchor to the numbers that predict their future.
The Bottom Line
Partners don’t fail because they lack effort or intelligence.
They fail when they lack visibility.
These seven KPIs reveal:
• the firm’s health
• the firm’s risks
• the firm’s opportunities
• the firm’s inefficiencies
• the firm’s revenue trajectory
• the firm’s leadership alignment
• the firm’s operational bottlenecks
If your KPIs aren’t telling you these things, they’re not the right KPIs.
If your firm has data, but not clarity — or KPIs, but not accountability — I can help. I build operational dashboards, leadership rhythms, and KPI systems that give partners real visibility into performance, capacity, and opportunity. When you can finally trust your numbers, you can finally lead with confidence.