Metrics on contracts handled

The General Counsel Americas of NACCO Materials Handling Group, Meredith B. Stone, explains in a document I have some metrics that her department tracks. One of them is the “number of contracts reviewed in a particular time period.” That is certainly a crude measure of productivity, as it says nothing about either quality or the economical use of resources. Why not track the number of pages in those contracts?

One can imagine an index of contract complexity, which would be a more accurate measure of performance. Shouldn’t there be some recognition for the dollars involved in the contract, at least as a rough proxy for complexity? It also matters whether contract originated in the law department or is submitted by the other side. Some law departments look at cycle time — how long does it take the law department to deal with a contract. Others might look at the number of lawyers and paralegal hours invested in each contract or the number of people who touch a contract as it makes its way through the law department.

Each of these aspects of contracts make more sense to track than the crude “number of contracts reviewed.”