VALUE is combination of:
Risk Potential
The extent to which it is possible for
specific types of legal work to negatively impact the company, e.g. financial,
regulatory, reputation.
Impact on Competitive Advantage
The degree to which the type of legal
work drives competitive advantage and
supports the corporate strategy.
Risk Potential
Comparing the individual survey assessments of risk potential and competitive advantage to the value
matrix, each type of work can be categorized as higher value, medium value, or lower value.
Calibration
Once individual value assignments have been identified, it is useful to calibrate the value assignments
among different levels of the department to be sure that value is defined consistently throughout the
department.
Practice group calibration. The first calibration should be done at a practice group or other
departmental subset level. This can be done through workshops where the groups meet to review the
assigned value by matter type and agree on a value. Within a practice area, the assigned value may vary
by matter type or even within matter type on a case-by-case basis, so the practice team should assign a
value that represents the majority of that type of work.
Leadership calibration. An additional calibration at the legal leadership team level, calibrating the value
assignments by practice area, will develop a departmental perspective on resource allocation.
PRACTICE TIP
Team calibration meetings can also be used to look further down the line. Team members can
identify ideas for:
• Meeting the department’s objectives of balancing work effort and priorities
• Reducing the specific level of effort required for specific categories of work
• Other efficiency or cost-saving ideas
