Intake KPI Scorecard
A scorecard for measuring request volume, response time, cycle time, and workload balance.
Use this scorecard to establish a baseline for how your legal intake process is actually performing — not how it feels day to day. Score each metric using your best available data, even if that data is currently incomplete or manually assembled.
How to Use This Scorecard
For each metric below, record your current figure, note whether you're tracking it consistently, and rate how well you understand it right now. A metric you can't currently measure isn't a failing score — it's a signal for where to start.
1. Record the Figure
Enter your current number if you have one — even a rough estimate is a useful starting point.
2. Note the Source
Is this figure pulled from structured data, or reconstructed manually from memory and email threads?
3. Rate Your Visibility
Score 1–5: 1 means you couldn't produce this number without significant manual effort, 5 means it's available in real time.
4. Identify the Gap
Where visibility is low, that's your next investment — not necessarily software, sometimes just a consistent way of logging the data.
Scorecard: Core Legal Intake Metrics
| Metric | What It Measures | Your Current Figure | Visibility Score (1–5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Request Volume | Number of requests received, by type, business unit, and time period | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
| Response Time | Time from submission to first meaningful response | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
| Cycle Time | Time from submission to full completion, by request type | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
| Workload Balance | Distribution of open requests across the team | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
| Bottleneck Location | Step or reviewer where requests most often stall | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
| Request Source | Business units or teams generating the most legal demand | [Enter figure] | [1–5] |
Sample Scorecard: A Mid-Market Legal Department
Here's the scorecard filled in for a legal department at an early stage of intake maturity — data exists, but it's scattered across email and spreadsheets.
| Metric | Current Figure | Visibility Score |
|---|---|---|
| Request Volume | ~140 requests/month, estimated from inbox count | 2 |
| Response Time | Unknown | 1 |
| Cycle Time | Roughly 5–7 days for contracts, based on team recollection | 2 |
| Workload Balance | Anecdotally uneven, not measured | 1 |
| Bottleneck Location | Believed to be external counsel review, unconfirmed | 1 |
| Request Source | Sales and HR anecdotally the heaviest, not measured | 2 |
This department has a rough sense of volume and cycle time, but almost no visibility into response time, workload balance, or where requests actually stall. That's a common pattern — and it points to structured intake and workflow tracking as the next investment, ahead of more advanced reporting.
How to read your results
Mostly scoring 1–2 across the board: focus on structured intake and workflow tracking first — accurate metrics depend on consistent underlying data, which doesn't exist yet. A mix of low and high scores: you likely have good visibility into some metrics but are missing bottleneck or workload data specifically — those are usually the last to become visible without workflow-level tracking. Mostly scoring 4–5: you're likely already generating this data automatically, and the opportunity is in reviewing it on a more regular cadence rather than collecting more of it.
Want these metrics generated automatically instead of scored by hand?
mot-r Ops generates volume, response time, cycle time, workload, and bottleneck data automatically from intake and workflow activity — available in a real-time dashboard rather than a quarterly scorecard exercise.
For more on why these specific metrics matter, see Legal Intake Metrics, or return to the Legal Intake Resource Center for the full guide.
Ready to modernize your legal intake?
Whether you're exploring legal intake software, redesigning your legal front door, or simply looking for a better way to manage legal requests, we'd be happy to learn about your current process and discuss how mot-r can help.