The Value of Everything: How to Measure and Deliver Legal Value?

Abstract

Oscar Wilde famously described a cynic as someone who knows “…the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Legal departments have allowed themselves to become the focus of such cynicism, seen as a (high) cost, rarely able to articulate the value of what they do.

Measuring cost is important, legal functions need to be more efficient and their failure to do so has only increased the level of scrutiny they face.

Almost all commentary on legal departments, to date, has focused on the cost of legal and its failure to leverage technology and alternative ways of working.

However, if everything is viewed only through the “cost lens” then effectiveness is often overlooked—and ‘value’ not understood.

What, therefore, is “legal value” and how do we measure and deliver it? In answering these questions, we will also consider Why do companies “buy law” and What should their return on investment be?