What KPIs Should a Law Firm Track Every Week?
The short answer
Most law firms need about 10 numbers on a one-page weekly scorecard: new leads, consultations, signed cases, cost per signed case, open cases by stage, cases stalled past their stage deadline, hours billed or fees earned, cash collected, A/R over 60 days, and owner hours on operations. Each number gets one owner and a weekly target. If a number misses two weeks in a row, it goes on the leadership agenda.
Why monthly reports aren't enough
Most firms I work with already have reports. The billing system sends one, the case management system has a dashboard, and the marketing agency emails a PDF each month. The problem is timing. By the time a monthly report shows intake dropped, the firm has already lost four weeks of cases.
A weekly scorecard is short on purpose. It fits on one page, and the leadership team reviews it in the same meeting every week. Every number has a person's name next to it.
The 10 numbers at a glance
KPI | What it tells you | Usual owner |
|---|---|---|
New leads | Whether marketing is producing enough demand | Marketing or intake lead |
Consultations held | Whether intake reaches people fast enough | Intake lead |
Signed cases | Whether consultations turn into clients | Intake lead or attorney |
Cost per signed case | Whether marketing spend is paying off | Owner |
Open cases by stage | Where work is piling up | Case manager |
Cases stalled past stage deadline | Which files need attention now | Case manager |
Hours billed or fees earned | Whether production is on pace | Billing lead |
Cash collected | Whether earned fees become money in the bank | Billing lead |
A/R over 60 days | How much earned money is at risk | Billing lead |
Owner hours on operations | Whether the owner is still the bottleneck | Owner |
Intake numbers
Leads, consultations and signed cases show you the whole funnel. Watch the ratios between them more than the totals. If leads rise and consultations stay flat, intake isn't keeping up. Calls go to voicemail, web forms sit overnight, and follow-up stops after one try. If consultations rise and signed cases don't, look at the consultation itself, the fee conversation, or how fast the engagement letter goes out.
Cost per signed case ties it together. Divide total marketing and intake cost by signed cases. This is the number that tells you whether to spend more on marketing or fix intake first.
Case flow numbers
Open cases by stage shows where work is stacking up. Every practice area has stages, and each stage should have a normal time range. A case sitting in "records requested" for 60 days is a problem nobody sees until the client calls to complain.
Cases stalled past their stage deadline turns that into a single number the case manager owns. When it climbs, you know before the client does.
Money numbers
For hourly practices, track hours billed against target for each timekeeper. For contingency practices, track fees earned and expected settlements by month. Either way, pair it with cash collected, because billed and collected drift apart quietly.
A/R over 60 days is the early warning. The older an invoice gets, the harder it is to collect in full.
The owner number
Most scorecards leave this one out, and it's often the most telling. Track how many hours a week the owner spends on operations: approvals, staff questions, vendor calls, schedule fixes. If revenue grows and this number grows with it, the firm is scaling on the owner's time. That pattern sits behind most firms that grow revenue without growing profit.
How to build the scorecard
Pick about 10 numbers. Past 12, people stop reading.
Give each number one owner. That person reports it every week and explains any miss.
Set a weekly target. Last quarter's average is a fine starting point. Adjust once you have a few months of data.
Pull the numbers on the same day each week. Automate what you can from your case management, billing and phone systems.
Review it in a standing weekly meeting. Numbers on target get a few seconds. Misses get discussed and assigned a fix with a due date.
As COO of a New York law firm, I ran a weekly scorecard while revenue went from $2.49 million to $8.31 million. When intake slipped, we saw it the following Monday and fixed it that week. The owner could step back from daily operations because the numbers told him what needed attention.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most important KPIs for a law firm?
For most firms: signed cases, cost per signed case, cash collected, A/R over 60 days, and cases stalled past their stage deadline. Together they show whether new work is coming in, moving through the firm, and turning into cash.
How many KPIs should a law firm track?
About 10 on the weekly scorecard is enough for most firms. Your systems can track far more, but the leadership meeting should only review numbers someone is expected to act on.
What is a good intake conversion rate for a law firm?
It depends on practice area, lead source and how you define a qualified lead, so outside benchmarks can mislead you. Track your own rate from consultation to signed case each week and work on moving it up quarter over quarter.
Should a small law firm use a scorecard?
Yes. A three-person firm can run one with six or seven numbers. Starting small also makes the habit easier to keep as the firm grows.
What software do I need for a law firm scorecard?
A spreadsheet is enough to start. Most of the numbers already live in your case management, billing and phone systems. Once the scorecard is stable, connecting those systems to a dashboard saves the weekly manual pull.
Where to start
If you don't know your cost per signed case, or how many files are stalled right now, that's the first gap to close. The Free Firm Gap Report looks at your intake, workflow, staffing and systems and shows you which numbers you're missing.
Or call 813-565-3050 to talk it through.
Related: What Does a Fractional COO Do for a Law Firm?, Why Is My Law Firm Growing Revenue but Not Profit?, Fractional COO, Office Manager or Legal Administrator: Which Does Your Law Firm Need?, Why Aren't My Law Firm's Leads Turning Into Signed Cases?, How Do I Stop Being the Bottleneck in My Law Firm?, How Do I Write SOPs for My Law Firm? and When Should My Law Firm Hire Another Person?
