In-house
counsel
often
pride
themselves
on
being
strategic
business
partners,
yet
many
cannot
answer
basic
questions
about
their
own
contract
portfolio.
What
is
the
average
turnaround
time
for
a
standard
agreement?
Which
clauses
generate
the
most
redlines?
How
often
do
negotiated
terms
deviate
from
the
company’s
standard
position?
Gary
Miles,
a
45-year
legal
veteran
and
coach
to
lawyers,
says
this
lack
of
visibility
is
a
serious
gap.
Speaking
with
me
on
“Notes
to
My
Legal
Self,”
he
emphasized
that
measuring
the
right
key
performance
indicators
is
not
just
for
law
firm
billing.
It
is
an
essential
discipline
for
running
any
legal
function
like
a
business.
“A
lot
of
firms,
not
Biglaw
but
many
others,
just
work
and
do
not
know
how
to
run
their
business.
They
do
not
even
know
what
a
KPI
is.
They
do
not
know
what
data
to
measure
and
track,”
Miles
explained.
“I
want
to
give
them
guidance
about
how
to
run
their
operations
more
successfully,
knowing
what
to
focus
on
and
what
is
important.”
From
Litigation
Metrics
To
Contract
Metrics
Litigators
track
case
duration,
win
rates,
and
cost
per
matter.
In-house
commercial
lawyers
should
be
tracking
contract
cycle
time,
the
frequency
with
which
certain
clauses
are
negotiated,
the
percentage
of
deals
that
deviate
from
standard
templates,
the
time
it
takes
to
secure
stakeholder
approvals,
and
whether
the
company
complies
with
obligations
after
signature.
These
metrics
form
a
business
health
check
for
the
contracting
process,
revealing
patterns
that
no
amount
of
anecdotal
observation
can
match.
Why
KPIs
Matter
For
Clarity
And
Usability
Companies
that
rely
solely
on
qualitative
assessments
often
overengineer
contracts
to
guard
against
rare
risks
while
ignoring
common
delays
and
recurring
misunderstandings.
Data
shows
where
to
focus.
If
a
single
indemnity
clause
is
adding
days
to
every
negotiation,
it
is
worth
reassessing
your
fallback
position.
When
you
can
quantify
how
often
an
issue
slows
down
the
deal,
you
can
make
an
informed
choice
about
whether
the
fight
is
worth
it.
Platforms
like
TermScout
make
this
practical
by
turning
unstructured
contract
language
into
structured,
comparable
data.
This
enables
benchmarking
against
the
market,
quantifying
deviation
rates,
and
targeting
process
improvements
where
they
will
have
the
greatest
impact.
Getting
Started
With
Contract
KPIs
The
most
successful
legal
teams
start
small,
focusing
on
a
handful
of
meaningful
metrics
before
expanding.
They
make
the
data
visible
to
the
team
and
to
business
stakeholders
so
that
everyone
understands
the
current
situation.
They
use
the
numbers
to
diagnose
problems,
whether
in
intake,
review
staffing,
or
approval
bottlenecks.
And
they
adjust
playbooks
and
fallback
positions
based
on
what
the
data
reveals
about
real-world
negotiation
outcomes
rather
than
relying
on
theory.
Gary’s
core
message
applies
equally
to
in-house
counsel
and
private
practice:
when
you
measure
the
right
things,
you
can
manage
and
improve
them.
Contract
KPIs
are
not
about
creating
more
reports.
They
are
about
empowering
legal
teams
with
clarity
and
confidence
in
their
decision-making.
In
an
era
where
business
partners
expect
legal
to
move
at
the
speed
of
the
deal,
nothing
builds
credibility
faster
than
being
able
to
answer,
with
hard
numbers,
the
question:
How
are
we
doing?
Olga V.
Mack is
the
CEO
of TermScout,
an
AI-powered
contract
certification
platform
that
accelerates
revenue
and
eliminates
friction
by
certifying
contracts
as
fair,
balanced,
and
market-ready.
A
serial
CEO
and
legal
tech
executive,
she
previously
led
a
company
through
a
successful
acquisition
by
LexisNexis. Olga is
also
a Fellow
at
CodeX,
The
Stanford
Center
for
Legal
Informatics,
and
the
Generative
AI
Editor
at
law.MIT.
She
is
a
visionary
executive
reshaping
how
we
law—how
legal
systems
are
built,
experienced,
and
trusted. Olga teaches
at
Berkeley
Law,
lectures
widely,
and
advises
companies
of
all
sizes,
as
well
as
boards
and
institutions.
An
award-winning
general
counsel
turned
builder,
she
also
leads
early-stage
ventures
including Virtual
Gabby
(Better
Parenting
Plan), Product
Law
Hub, ESI
Flow,
and Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self,
each
rethinking
the
practice
and
business
of
law
through
technology,
data,
and
human-centered
design.
She
has
authored The
Rise
of
Product
Lawyers, Legal
Operations
in
the
Age
of
AI
and
Data, Blockchain
Value,
and Get
on
Board,
with Visual
IQ
for
Lawyers (ABA)
forthcoming. Olga is
a
6x
TEDx
speaker
and
has
been
recognized
as
a
Silicon
Valley
Woman
of
Influence
and
an
ABA
Woman
in
Legal
Tech.
Her
work
reimagines
people’s
relationship
with
law—making
it
more
accessible,
inclusive,
data-driven,
and
aligned
with
how
the
world
actually
works.
She
is
also
the
host
of
the
Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self
podcast
(streaming
on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts,
and YouTube),
and
her
insights
regularly
appear
in
Forbes,
Bloomberg
Law,
Newsweek,
VentureBeat,
ACC
Docket,
and
Above
the
Law.
She
earned
her
B.A.
and
J.D.
from
UC
Berkeley.
Follow
her
on LinkedIn and
X
@olgavmack.