Scorecard: How to Track Associate Performance

It’s always a hard thing to measure value, for, like, anything. 

 

And, it’s even tougher when you’re trying to value people, including (and maybe especially) in the context of employment. 

 

Lots of managing attorneys ask me how to evaluate associate performance; and, honestly: most law firms have no metrics whatsoever, outside of gut feeling – which is not much different from the way law firm owners manage generally. 

So, how can you drill down, and get a better sense of how your associates are actually performing? 

 

There’s at least a few things you can add to your law firm’s processes that you’re probably not doing now: 

 

-Have your associates track all of their time; like, all of it.  In order to determine how efficient your associates are, you need to know how they spend their time.  This will allow you to generate the all-important metric = utilization rate.  Utilization rate is used to determine how much of a given attorney’s workday represents billable hours.  Law firms that have a higher utilization rate are more efficient; and, law firms that are more efficient, make more money. 

 

-Most managing attorneys push back, however, on using solely an efficiency metric to judge associates, because they (understandably) don’t just want fast work – they also want good work.  But it’s hard to establish a framework for work quality.  One option is to assess random assignments, and provide a grade or score, of some kind.  80 out of 100, 9 of 10, whatever it is.  This is a little bit of a lift for the managing attorney; but, most managing attorneys are probably doing this anyway, keeping a mental checklist – even if they’re not sharing it with their associates, or using it for performance rating in a formal way. 

 

-Theoretically, the law firm clients could directly weigh in, in terms of their experiences with particular associates, by submitting reviews or completing surveys, even a single-question survey, to generate another important KPI = net promoter score (NPS).  This can be done after the matter closes. 

 

And, just like that: you’ve got three independent metrics to identify value in terms of associate performance. 

 

. . . 

 

If you want to better identify staff performance, we can help. 

Through a unique partnership between the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar and Jared Correia’s Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, Maine attorneys have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discounted rate. 

To get started, visit Red Cave’s landing page for Maine attorneys, and start running your law practice like a business.