Law firm goal-setting, OKRs and KPIs
Turn a broad aim into a baseline, owner and decision. Use it when a priority has no measurable operating target, or when a firm is designing objectives, key results or KPIs.
Boundary: this is an operating aid, not financial, employment or performance-management advice.
Operational guidance, not legal advice. No confidential information is needed. Original PDF editions (both v1, 18 Aug 2026, now combined into this single maintained page): Law Firm Goal-Setting Checklist and OKRs and KPIs for Mid-Sized Law Firms.
1. Frame the decision
A useful goal has a baseline, owner, data source and decision rule. Activity must not hide quality loss.
Specific focus - pick the line that matches your situation:
- Goal-setting: write one outcome with a source-labelled baseline and quality guardrail.
- OKRs and KPIs: separate outcome, process indicator and non-negotiable quality floor.
Questions to answer:
- What outcome changes?
- What is baseline?
- Who owns source data?
- What action follows result?
Avoid:
- target without baseline
- measure no one can reproduce
- optimising speed while quality falls
2. Control sheet
Treat a blank evidence field as a reason to pause, not a reason to guess. Record sources and owners before changing the workflow.
| Area | Evidence to collect | Pass condition |
|---|---|---|
| Outcome | Change and beneficiary | Specific and bounded |
| Baseline | Value, date and source | Reproducible |
| Measure | Formula and frequency | No hidden denominator |
| Guardrail | Quality or risk floor | Cannot hide harm |
| Decision | Threshold and action | Changes behaviour |
Fail closed: if an input, owner or approval is missing, record the gap and keep the affected step outside the proposed change.
3. Working record
Complete this page with counts, dates and named sources. Do not include client names, matter names, contract text or privileged material.
| Field | Evidence or answer |
|---|---|
| Objective | |
| Baseline | |
| KPI or result | |
| Data source | |
| Guardrail | |
| Owner and date |
Evidence quality check:
- The source is named and dated.
- An estimate is labelled as an estimate.
- The owner can reproduce the measure.
- The same method can be used after a change.
4. Decision record
Select the outcome that the evidence supports. A stop or no-change decision is valid.
- Stop: a required source, owner or approval is missing.
- Fix: repair the underlying route before adding technology or cost.
- Test: run one bounded change with a baseline and review date.
- Proceed: adopt only the option supported by the recorded evidence.
| Decision field | Record |
|---|---|
| Chosen outcome | |
| Reason and evidence | |
| Owner and approvers | |
| Review or expiry date |
Related pages: the growth worksheet (/resources/law-firm-growth-without-extra-headcount/) and the guides hub (/law-firm-guides/). Questions: hello@margolegal.com.
Primary sources
- Law Society - How to use lawtech in your practice: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/Topics/AI-and-lawtech/Practice-notes/How-to-use-lawtech-in-your-practice
- SRA - Effective supervision: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/effective-supervision-guidance/
- SRA - Client care letters: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/client-care-letters/
Source status: links checked 15 September 2026 (both SRA pages verified live 200; the Law Society page blocks automated fetch with 403 but is indexed - manual browser check requested before publish). Confirm the current version and obtain appropriate professional advice before relying on regulated, contractual, privacy, security, insurance, financial or wellbeing conclusions.
MARGO LEGAL LTD, company number 17322603. Registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NA. Originally published as two PDF guides (v1, 18 August 2026); consolidated and converted to HTML 15 September 2026.