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Why Legal Needs Data Now More Than Ever

In-house legal teams are no longer just reactive risk mitigators or contract gatekeepers. They are increasingly asked to drive strategic value but without the tools or data to prove it, legal’s seat at the leadership table remains unstable.

This guide is your blueprint for changing that.

Whether you're a CLO, GC, or Legal Ops leader, the ability to quantify and clearly communicate your department’s impact is critical to business alignment, influence, and long-term resourcing. Yet many teams lack the infrastructure to track performance, measure ROI, or translate their work into language the C-suite grasps.

LinkSquares helps legal teams close this gap by simplifying how you collect, analyze, and present your data across the entire contract lifecycle. 

The Cost of Operating Blind: Why Legal Suffers Without Data

Legal teams face a familiar frustration: their value is felt but not seen. The department is constantly putting out fires, mitigating risk, and accelerating revenue — but few metrics make it past the legal inbox. Without the data to back up your work, legal can be seen as a cost center instead of a strategic partner.

The total economic impact (TEI) of inaction:

  • Missed savings: Without insight into contract cycle times or outside counsel spend, costs balloon
  • Slower decisions: Manual, siloed processes mean lost hours and missed opportunities
  • Diminished influence: No visibility = no voice in strategic conversations

One major reason? Legal lacks a modern, end-to-end CLM system to unify and surface the right data.

What Metrics Should Legal Be Tracking?

Your data should serve one purpose: proving the ROI of your legal team. These are the metrics that matter:

  • Contract turnaround time
  • Time-to-signature
  • Volume of contracts processed
  • Legal request fulfillment time
  • Self-service contract usage
  • Outside counsel vs. internal resource spend
  • Risk exposure (e.g., missing clauses, expirations, obligations)

And just as important: tailoring that data to your audience.

  • For the C-suite: focus on cost savings, speed to revenue, and risk reduction.
  • For legal ops: emphasize efficiency, productivity, and workflow impact.
  • For finance: highlight predictable spend and contract value capture.

From Data to Influence: The Power of Legal Storytelling

Even great data can fall flat if it’s not presented with context. That’s where storytelling comes in.

The most effective legal teams translate metrics into narratives that align with executive priorities: risk avoided, revenue accelerated, time won back. Data should paint a picture of a lean, strategic, and indispensable function.

Tips for compelling reporting:

  • Use visuals and dashboards—not just spreadsheets
  • Create a regular cadence of reporting (monthly/quarterly)
  • Tie legal outcomes to broader business OKRs
  • Share wins across the org, not just within legal

Legal isn’t just about compliance—it’s about confidence. Your data is how you show it.

The ROI of CLM Technology: LinkSquares in Action

An end-to-end CLM doesn’t just manage contracts — it unlocks insights. Here’s what you can expect with LinkSquares:

  • Time saved: Reduce contract completion times by 30–50%
  • Cost reduced: Cut outside counsel spend by 40%+
  • Risk lowered: Gain real-time visibility into clause usage, renewals, and obligations
  • Reporting simplified: Weekly reporting that once took 8 hours now takes 30 minutes

Callout: Real Customer Results

  • MBO Partners: Saved 7.5 hours/week on reporting with a centralized contract repository
  • Commvault: Cut time to signature by 50% with automated workflows
  • Esusu: Reclaimed 10+ hours/month on reporting and reduced contract turnaround by 2 days

How LinkSquares Simplifies Data Tracking and Presentation

LinkSquares isn’t only a CLM — it’s your legal team’s analytics engine. Purpose-built for in-house teams, our platform:

  • Tracks and benchmarks key legal KPIs automatically
  • Surfaces insights across contract data, performance, and risk
  • Enables reporting at the click of a button
  • Integrates with your business tools (Salesforce, Slack, etc.) for broader visibility

With LinkSquares, your data doesn’t just exist. It works for you.

Ready to Act? Let’s Elevate Legal

Legal has the talent. Now it’s time to give the team the tools.

You don’t have to guess your impact or justify your budget through anecdotes. You can lead with confidence, backed by hard data and a modern CLM platform that does the heavy lifting.

Next steps:

  • Visit LinkSquares.com to see it in action
  • Book a personalized demo
  • Discover how we help legal teams become strategic business partners

Sidebar: LinkSquares in Brief

LinkSquares CLM Features:

  • End-to-end contract lifecycle management
  • Automated contract drafting, approval, and storage
  • AI-powered clause and obligation tracking
  • Out-of-the-box reporting for legal KPIs

Why LinkSquares?

The sky’s the limit.

Hey, why not get a demo?

Book a demo