How much legal capacity does your team need? A practical calculation

Short answer: Legal department capacity planning rests on one simple formula: annual volume per type of work × handling time per matter ÷ productive hours per full-time employee = FTE needed. In our worked example, a need of 4,295 hours at 1,350 productive hours per person gives roughly 3.2 FTE. Fill the permanent base load with permanent roles; absorb peaks with temporary professionals, law firms or prioritisation.

This guide is for general counsel, heads of legal and heads of compliance in Switzerland and Germany who need to justify capacity, for example to the CFO or HR. It shows which data you need, how the calculation works, how to separate base load from peaks and which metrics to track each month.

Collecting data: intake, contract types, requests, deadlines

The calculation is only as good as the data. For each type of work you need two values: annual volume and average handling time per matter.

• Intake: how many requests come in each month, and from which business units? A ticketing tool or shared mailbox provides the numbers.
• Contract types: separate standard contracts on templates (such as NDAs) from negotiated contracts. Handling times often differ many times over.
• Advisory requests: short queries, opinions, training.
• Recurring work: corporate housekeeping, board matters, registers, policies. These arise as a block, not per matter.
• Disputes and outside counsel management: number of ongoing proceedings and internal effort per case.
• Deadlines: regulatory projects, contract renewals, year-end. They determine when peaks occur.

Without a system, a sample is enough: the team records every matter with type of work and time spent for four weeks. Extrapolate to a year and check against known seasonal peaks. Tools and metrics for this are described on Legal operations and project support.

Formula and worked example

The formula is: the sum of volume × handling time for each type of work, plus an allowance for quality assurance, divided by the productive hours per full-time employee. The result is the FTE you need.

The calculation below is a template. All volumes, times and ratios are assumptions for a fictitious company with three lawyers. Replace them with your own figures.

In the example, the team of 3 FTE is short by around 0.2 FTE, or about 245 hours a year (4,295 − 3 × 1,350). Prioritisation and templates can close that gap; a new role would be too large for it.

How the productive hours are derived (assumption)

• Contractual working week: 42 hours. In Germany it is often lower; use your own employment contracts.
• Working weeks: 46 after holidays, public holidays and sick leave.
• Productive share: 70 %. The rest goes on meetings, administration, training and team management.

Separate base load from peaks: fill permanently what is permanent

The annual calculation shows the base load. You only see peaks when you split the need by month or quarter. This split decides whether you create a role or add temporary capacity.

1. Split the need by quarter: distribute annual hours across quarters based on your experience.
2. Add known peaks: transactions, regulatory deadlines, contract waves, year-end.
3. Determine the base load: the minimum need in every quarter is the base load. It belongs in permanent roles.
4. Assess the peaks: anything above is a peak. Absorb it temporarily.
5. Check for recurrence: if a peak returns every year and lasts longer than six months, it probably belongs to the base load (editorial rule of thumb).

Example (assumption): in the fourth quarter a contract wave adds 600 hours, for example because of new supplier terms. One FTE has around 337 productive hours per quarter (1,350 ÷ 4). The wave therefore needs just under 1.8 FTE for three months. A permanent hire would no longer be fully used afterwards.

Absorbing peaks: temporary professionals, law firms, prioritisation

You absorb peaks with three tools that can be combined. Which one fits depends on the type and length of the work.

• Temporary professionals: for volume work in your systems, such as playbook-based contract review or clearing a backlog. Integrated into the team through staff leasing, or for clearly scoped packages through freelancing. More on Managing peak workloads in legal and compliance.
• Law firm: for specialist questions, opinions and proceedings rather than volume.
• Prioritisation: what can wait is deliberately deferred. This works immediately but creates no capacity.

Costs for the contract-wave example (assumption, Switzerland)

• One experienced profile (3–6 years) full-time for 13 weeks: 65 days × an assumed CHF 1,000 (range CHF 800–1,200) = CHF 65,000.
• One junior profile (0–2 years) three days a week for 13 weeks: 39 days × an assumed CHF 700 (range CHF 600–800) = CHF 27,300.
• Total: CHF 92,300 excluding VAT for 104 days.

The ranges come from Alpinum Solutions' published pricing, as of 18 October 2026. For Germany and all levels, see Costs in interim legal & compliance. How to clear a large backlog with a team is covered in Clearing a contract review backlog; for larger programmes see Taskforces for legal and compliance projects.

Alpinum Solutions provides legal and compliance professionals for this through staff leasing and freelancing, part-time or full-time. Selected profiles are usually available within 48 hours; the start date is agreed between the company and Alpinum.

The calculation also works for compliance teams

Compliance teams can use the same formula, often with greater precision, because the work comes in countable units. Typical units are KYC files, transaction monitoring alerts, periodic reviews or training sessions.

• Measure handling time per file or alert with a representative sample rather than estimating it.
• Create complexity classes, for example by customer risk rating.
• Treat second review (four-eyes principle) as its own line rather than hiding it in the allowance.
• Use regulatory deadlines as a hard limit: need ÷ remaining weeks = people required.

Metrics to track every month

Seven metrics are enough to spot capacity issues and bottlenecks early. What matters is the trend over several months, not a single value.

• Intake: new matters per month by type of work and business unit.
• Closures: matters closed per month.
• Open matters: stock at month-end. If it rises three months in a row, a backlog is building.
• Cycle time: days from intake to closure, per type of work.
• External share: outside counsel spend and the share of matters sent to law firms.
• Utilisation: recorded hours relative to productive hours.
• Deadlines: number of tight or extended deadlines.

The causes behind rising values are explained in What causes capacity bottlenecks in legal teams.

Limits and risks of the calculation

• The calculation is a model. It does not replace the judgement of which work is needed at all.
• Averages hide outliers. A single complex matter can take a whole week.
• Self-recorded times are often too low because interruptions are missing. Check the sample for plausibility.
• Counting only volume overlooks specialist knowledge. A role may suffice on paper and still cover the wrong area of law.

Frequently asked questions about legal department capacity planning

How many productive hours does a full-time role have?

It depends on your working week, holidays, public holidays, sick leave and the share of time spent in meetings and administration. In our worked example, 42 hours × 46 weeks × 70 % productive share gives around 1,350 hours a year. These figures are assumptions. Calculate with your own employment contracts and absence data.

When is an additional permanent hire worthwhile?

A permanent hire is worthwhile when the base load permanently exceeds existing capacity, in every quarter and not just at peaks. As an editorial rule of thumb: if around one full-time role is missing over twelve months, consider a new position. Close smaller gaps with prioritisation, templates or part-time support.

How do I account for quality assurance?

Treat quality assurance as its own effort, not as a residual. Two approaches are common: a percentage allowance on handling time, 10 % as an assumption in our example, or a separate line for second review, playbook maintenance and training. In compliance teams using the four-eyes principle, the separate line is more accurate.

Where do I get data if there is no ticketing system?

A four-week sample is enough for a first calculation. The team records every matter with type of work, business unit and time spent, for example in a simple spreadsheet. Extrapolate to a year and add known peaks. After three to six months of ongoing recording, the calculation becomes reliable.

Does the formula also work for compliance teams?

Yes. In compliance, work often comes in countable units such as KYC files, alerts or periodic reviews. Measure handling time with a representative sample, create complexity classes and calculate second review separately. Regulatory deadlines then set the number of weeks available.

Next step

Have you calculated your need and found a peak? Describe the volume, tasks and timeframe; you will receive selected profiles for staff leasing or freelancing.

• Managing peak workloads in legal and compliance
• Legal operations and project support
• Costs in interim legal & compliance
• Discuss your needs

Last updated: 30 October 2026.