Build a legal operations function: 90-day plan

By Christian Steinmetz and Maren Siegels

Short answer: To build a legal operations function, you run the legal department's work like an operation: one intake channel for requests, a register of all matters (matter management), managed instructions to outside counsel, a few meaningful metrics and maintained know-how. The most reliable start is a scoped project, for example a 90-day plan, that begins with the real matters of the past weeks rather than with new software.

This guide is for general counsel and heads of legal in Switzerland and Germany whose teams are stretched even though volumes are not unusual. It sets out the five building blocks of legal operations, a 90-day plan, the roles you need and the most common mistakes.

What does legal operations cover?

Legal operations covers everything that makes legal work plannable, measurable and repeatable without being legal work itself. Five building blocks carry the set-up. Each has a clear goal and can be steered with a small number of metrics.

Building block	Goal	Metric (examples)
Intake	All requests arrive through one agreed channel with the information needed.	Share of requests via the channel; share of complete requests; time to first response
Matter management	Every matter has a status, owner, priority and due date.	Open matters per person; cycle time per matter type; share of overdue matters
Outside counsel management	External mandates are awarded deliberately and managed against a budget.	External spend per practice area; variance from matter budget; share of mandates with a budget
Metrics and reporting	Management and the general counsel get a reliable basis for priorities and resources.	Matters by internal client; team utilisation; trend against the previous quarter
Knowledge management and templates	Recurring questions are answered properly once and can be found.	Share of contracts on standard templates; share of standard questions with a documented answer

You do not need every metric on day one. Pick one figure per building block that triggers a decision: if the share of overdue matters rises, for instance, priorities are reset or capacity is added.

Does legal operations need new software first?

No, new software is not the first step. Missing responsibilities or unclear requirements cannot be fixed with a tool. Describe the workflow, the information required and the decision points first. Only then can you judge which existing or new systems support it.

Many teams start with what they already have: a request form, a structured spreadsheet as a matter register and a shared location for templates. Selecting a matter management or contract lifecycle management (CLM) system pays off once the workflow is stable and the data shows where time is lost. Our guide on legal operations for a CLM implementation explains how such a roll-out works.

A 90-day plan to build a legal operations function

A 90-day plan gives the set-up a fixed frame with three phases. The plan below is an example; the actual duration depends on team size, the number of internal clients and existing systems.

Days 1 to 30: baseline

Log incoming requests from the past weeks by type, urgency and internal client.
Identify recurring matters, waiting times and duplicated work.
Sort last year's external mandates and law firm spend by practice area.
Agree three to five goals for the 90 days with the general counsel.

Days 31 to 60: pilot intake and register

Agree one intake channel and the briefing information it requires.
Define responsibilities, prioritisation and escalation rules.
Test the matter register with one internal client, such as procurement or sales.
Develop templates and standard answers together with the team.

Days 61 to 90: measure and hand over

Evaluate the pilot against the chosen metrics and adjust.
Roll the workflow out to further internal clients.
Produce a first report for management.
Name process owners and hand over maintenance with documentation.

What should the project deliver?

A legal operations project should end with four tangible results: a documented intake process, a prioritised matter register, agreed templates and named process owners. Together they allow an orderly handover to the team. Measure progress by actual use and quality of work, not by the number of documents produced. A process manual nobody uses is not a result.

Roles and capacity: who builds legal operations?

Legal operations needs a sponsor in the leadership team and at least one person who drives the set-up as their main task. It rarely works alongside a full day-to-day workload. Typical roles:

Sponsor: general counsel or head of legal; sets goals, decides priorities and represents the project to management.
Legal operations manager or project lead: analyses workflows, designs intake and register, introduces metrics and coordinates internal clients.
Legal counsel for templates: revises contract templates, clauses and standard answers; this needs legal judgement.
Junior profile or legal analyst: logs matters and law firm invoices, maintains data and prepares reports.

To size the overall capacity your team needs, see our guide on legal team capacity planning. Alpinum Solutions provides legal and compliance professionals for such projects through staff leasing or freelancing, part-time or full-time, as an individual or a team, from junior to senior level. Under staff leasing, the company gives the professional instructions and the professional works as part of the team. Under freelancing, the professional works independently within the agreed mandate.

What belongs in the brief for interim support?

A good brief clearly separates ongoing matter work from designing new processes. Include:

team size and reporting line;
typical requests and the main internal clients;
systems in use, such as email, ticketing, contract repository or matter management software;
current bottlenecks and where time is lost;
the expected result after 90 days and who signs it off;
workload, place of work (on site, hybrid, remote) and languages.

Common mistakes when building legal operations

Tool before process: software is bought before workflow and responsibilities are clear.
Too many metrics: a dashboard with twenty figures goes unread. A few figures with clear consequences work better.
No pilot: a new intake is launched for all internal clients at once and fails on exceptions.
Building on the side: the project runs alongside a full workload and stalls after a few weeks.
No handover: after the project nobody feels responsible for the register and templates.

Limits and risks

Legal operations does not replace legal decisions. Approvals, risk assessments and external representation stay with the legal department.
Matter registers and metrics contain confidential data. Access rights and storage locations must be set before the start.
Alpinum is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Alpinum provides professionals; the company directs the assignment and is responsible for the results.

Frequently asked questions about legal operations

What does a legal operations manager do?

A legal operations manager organises the legal department's work without handling matters personally. The role designs request intake, runs the matter register, manages law firm budgets, selects tools and reports metrics to the general counsel. In smaller teams these tasks often sit with a lawyer who is interested in processes, frequently as a time-limited project.

At what team size does legal ops pay off?

There is no fixed threshold. Legal operations pays off as soon as requests arrive through many channels, priorities are unclear or law firm spend cannot be traced. That can already be the case in a small team. Small teams often only need a part-time project; a permanent role makes sense once ongoing maintenance takes up capacity on a lasting basis.

How long does it take to build legal operations?

A first usable set-up with intake, a matter register and a few metrics can be reached in a project of roughly three months, provided one person focuses mainly on it. Larger teams with many internal clients or a software roll-out need longer. What matters is that process owners are named at the end and maintenance is handed over.

Which metrics are best to start with?

Start with metrics you can collect without new software: open matters per person, cycle time per matter type, share of overdue matters and external spend per practice area. Each metric should trigger a decision, such as reprioritising work or adding capacity. Figures without consequences quickly stop being maintained.

Can an interim professional build legal operations?

Yes, provided goal, deliverables and handover are clearly agreed. An interim professional brings experience from other legal departments and can concentrate on the set-up while the team handles day-to-day work. Under staff leasing, the company directs the work; under freelancing, the professional works independently within the agreed mandate.

Next step

Describe your team size, bottleneck and expected result. Selected profiles are usually available within 48 hours; the company and Alpinum agree the start date together.

Last updated: 30 October 2026.

Legal operations as a project: building processes, metrics and tools