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Why is Data Important for Law Rees W. Morrison4
Firm Managers’ Decision-
Principal, Altman Weil, Inc.
Making?
Day after day, law firm partners and managers confront operational problems, think about
them, and make choices about what to do or not to do. In other words, they decide something.
They would make better decisions if they took into account the data available to them. If they
collect metrics and weave them into their deliberations, the outcomes will be both sounder and
easier to explain.
Two subtler and broader advantages from decision-making that incorporates numbers
should be emphasized. First, it encourages a different way of thinking about decision-making than
traditional approaches. Make it a practice throughout the firm to ground arguments in data and to
present arguments buttressed with numbers, or
else accept that a resolution rests on power,
values, or ideology more than quantifiable
evidence.
Second, being mindful of data is being
mindful of what you do. This is a deeper benefit
arising from a law firm’s receptivity to data. A
general awareness of metrics helps lawyers and
others in law firms take stock of their processes,
describe them and their output in more tangible,
numerate terms (“15 10Ks reviewed this month”
rather than “Lots of 10Ks”). They become more
aware and reflective about what they are doing and how they might do better.
But let’s consider our claim — “data helps decision-making” — and ground it by walking
through a scenario for a management decision. Assume that three partners want to figure out
whether to hire another paralegal. Further, assume that the partners disagree. Their decision will
4 Rees W. Morrison is a principal of Altman Weil, Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience advising law departments on cost control,
department structure, process improvement, outside counsel management, performance benchmarking, and other key issues. He also specializes in
data analytics for legal organizations.
Before joining Altman Weil, Mr. Morrison consulted independently for five years and held partnerships at several legal consulting firms, including
an earlier tenure at Altman Weil from 1998 to 2002. He has had several in-house positions including Business Manager for Google’s law department
and Consulting Assistant to the General Counsel of Merck. Earlier in his career he was vice president of two software firms, and an associate at
Weil Gotshal & Manges and two other New York law firms.
He has written extensively on law department management, including nearly two-hundred articles, six books, and a well-known blog on law
department metrics. For two years he wrote a bi-weekly column, Morrison on Metrics, for InsideCounsel. Among his books are “Law Department
Benchmarks: Myths Metrics and Management”; “Client Satisfaction for Law Departments”; and “Law Department Administrators: Lessons from
Leaders.”
He is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), a member of Scribes (The American Society of Legal Writers), a fellow of the College of Law
Practice Management, and has been on the Board of Advisors of legal publications Corporate Counselor, Law Department Management,
and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. A Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, he has participated in the ABA's Law Practice Management
Section and ACC’s Law Department Management Committee.
Mr. Morrison graduated from Harvard College in 1974, earned his law degree from Columbia Law School (1978) where he was a law review
editor, and received an LLM from New York University Law School (1984).
123
Firm Managers’ Decision-
Principal, Altman Weil, Inc.
Making?
Day after day, law firm partners and managers confront operational problems, think about
them, and make choices about what to do or not to do. In other words, they decide something.
They would make better decisions if they took into account the data available to them. If they
collect metrics and weave them into their deliberations, the outcomes will be both sounder and
easier to explain.
Two subtler and broader advantages from decision-making that incorporates numbers
should be emphasized. First, it encourages a different way of thinking about decision-making than
traditional approaches. Make it a practice throughout the firm to ground arguments in data and to
present arguments buttressed with numbers, or
else accept that a resolution rests on power,
values, or ideology more than quantifiable
evidence.
Second, being mindful of data is being
mindful of what you do. This is a deeper benefit
arising from a law firm’s receptivity to data. A
general awareness of metrics helps lawyers and
others in law firms take stock of their processes,
describe them and their output in more tangible,
numerate terms (“15 10Ks reviewed this month”
rather than “Lots of 10Ks”). They become more
aware and reflective about what they are doing and how they might do better.
But let’s consider our claim — “data helps decision-making” — and ground it by walking
through a scenario for a management decision. Assume that three partners want to figure out
whether to hire another paralegal. Further, assume that the partners disagree. Their decision will
4 Rees W. Morrison is a principal of Altman Weil, Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience advising law departments on cost control,
department structure, process improvement, outside counsel management, performance benchmarking, and other key issues. He also specializes in
data analytics for legal organizations.
Before joining Altman Weil, Mr. Morrison consulted independently for five years and held partnerships at several legal consulting firms, including
an earlier tenure at Altman Weil from 1998 to 2002. He has had several in-house positions including Business Manager for Google’s law department
and Consulting Assistant to the General Counsel of Merck. Earlier in his career he was vice president of two software firms, and an associate at
Weil Gotshal & Manges and two other New York law firms.
He has written extensively on law department management, including nearly two-hundred articles, six books, and a well-known blog on law
department metrics. For two years he wrote a bi-weekly column, Morrison on Metrics, for InsideCounsel. Among his books are “Law Department
Benchmarks: Myths Metrics and Management”; “Client Satisfaction for Law Departments”; and “Law Department Administrators: Lessons from
Leaders.”
He is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), a member of Scribes (The American Society of Legal Writers), a fellow of the College of Law
Practice Management, and has been on the Board of Advisors of legal publications Corporate Counselor, Law Department Management,
and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. A Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, he has participated in the ABA's Law Practice Management
Section and ACC’s Law Department Management Committee.
Mr. Morrison graduated from Harvard College in 1974, earned his law degree from Columbia Law School (1978) where he was a law review
editor, and received an LLM from New York University Law School (1984).
123
