When you move in-house, one thing becomes clear fast: data is the “love language” of the business, and you don’t have a hope of getting the resources you need for your team if you can’t translate what you do into data. Most teams are losing that battle — not because they aren't doing great work, but because they can't show it.

The numbers are stark. 77% of in-house legal teams face increasing workload and complexity (Axiom 2026). Yet only 18% regularly use data to report on their own performance (Bloomberg, cited by Crafty Counsel, 2024). Meanwhile, 79% of UK GCs expect budget increases in 2025, with technology and legal ops as top priorities (Axiom 2025).

The good news is you already have the data - you just need a framework to use it.

I sat down with Jodie Baker, Founder & CEO of Xakia, to walk through exactly that — a practical analytics framework any in-house team can implement, no data scientist required.

START WITH THESE 4 QUESTIONS

Everything starts with four questions: Who, What, When, and Why.

- WHO is the work for, and who is doing it? What does it cost?

- WHAT type of work is it, and what's at stake?

- WHEN will it be done? Are you on track?

- WHY does it matter? What's the risk, complexity, and strategic value?

Answer these consistently, and you'll have more insight into your team's performance than most legal departments ever achieve.

1. WHO: KNOW YOUR WORKLOAD

Start with three metrics: matters by business unit, matters by assigned lawyer, and your internal vs. external split. On average, teams handle 42% internally and send 58% to external counsel (GC350) — but is your split intentional, or just what happened by default?

Spend analytics matters here too. Total legal spend by business unit, external counsel spend by firm, and budget vs. actual are the numbers your CFO cares about most. Budget credibility is often the difference between having a seat at the table and being left out of the room.

“The currency of lawyers is words. The currency of the rest of the business is data — statistics, and often money. You're talking in two different currencies. What we're trying to do is bridge that gap, by taking legal events and matters and turning them into data.”

— Jodie Baker, Founder & CEO, Xakia

Quick win: Log three fields per matter — business unit, matter type, assigned lawyer. One month of data is enough for your first workload report.

2. WHAT: CLASSIFY YOUR WORK

Build a taxonomy of around 10 matter categories (Commercial Contracts, Employment, Litigation, M&A, etc.) and use it consistently. The specific categories matter less than the discipline of applying them every time.

Then look at your work mix: what proportion is routine BAU, what's project-based, and what's ad hoc quick advice? This single view surfaces automation and self-serve opportunities most teams never see.

Quick win: Agree your taxonomy this week and add a "matter type" field to however you currently track work. Within a month, you'll see your work mix clearly for the first time.

3. WHEN: TIME IS YOUR REPUTATION

Speed of response is the top concern business clients have about their legal teams (GC350). You don't need timesheets to track it — T-shirt sizing at intake (XS to XL) is enough. The gap between estimated and actual duration shows you exactly where processes and bottlenecks need attention.

Most delays aren't caused by slow lawyers. They're caused by external dependencies and invisible handover time. Tracking by stage makes them visible. And the business case for improvement is real: cutting contract approval time from six to four weeks can enable 40% more deals per year.

Quick win: Record the date every matter opens and closes. In 90 days, you'll have your average turnaround time by matter type.

4. WHY: EARN BOARDROOM TRUST

This is where legal goes from reporting what it did to demonstrating why it mattered.

Here are three fields that take about 10 seconds per matter to compete and can transform your board report entirely:

(1) Risk (Low/Medium/High/Critical)

(2) Complexity (routine/moderate/complex), and 

(3) Strategic alignment (scored 1–10) 

Instead of saying: "We completed 150 matters this quarter."

Now you can say: "We closed 12 high-risk matters with £45m at stake, 85% aligned to our top three strategic priorities."

One of those gets you invited back. The other does not…

Quick win: Add a risk rating to every open matter this week. Show a single pie chart at your next leadership meeting. One chart. One conversation. It changes everything.

REPORTING: MATCH THE MESSAGE TO THE AUDIENCE

A CEO report should be one page, no jargon — top risks, strategic alignment, budget headline. A board report needs confidence, not detail. Business units want their own demand trends and risk profile. Your legal team needs the full picture.

Regularity builds credibility faster than a perfect report that arrives once. Start with one report, one audience, one chart — then build from there.

"The thing we notice every time we go into a new team is that people have the data — they just don't know where it is, what it is, or how to access it."

— Jodie Baker, Founder & CEO, Xakia

GETTING STARTED

The same five-step process works whether you use a spreadsheet or dedicated software:

1. Determine what to measure — start with WHO and WHAT.

2. Find a central location — scattered data means no analytics.

3. Appoint a custodian — one owner prevents inconsistency.

4. Collect consistently — a finite, agreed taxonomy is non-negotiable.

5. Generate reports — one report, one audience. Iterate.

Imperfect data collected consistently is far more valuable than a perfect system that never gets implemented. Track WHO and WHAT for 90 days. You'll surface insights most legal teams have never had access to.

The data your legal team needs already exists. The question is whether you're capturing it in a way that lets you use it. Four questions, one taxonomy, 90 days. That's all it takes to move from invisible cost centre to trusted strategic partner.

This article was written in collaboration with Xakia, a legal matter management platform designed to help in-house legal teams track, analyse, and report on their work with confidence. Learn more at xakiatech.com.