{"id":27945,"date":"2024-01-23T11:35:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mattersuite.com\/blog\/?p=27945"},"modified":"2026-10-12T07:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T07:12:53","slug":"enterprise-legal-management-elm-software-roi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mattersuite.com\/blog\/enterprise-legal-management-elm-software-roi\/","title":{"rendered":"The ROI of ELM Software: Calculating the Value for In-House Legal Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legal departments in most businesses these days are at capacity. There is a growing pressure to keep everything in control, from outside spend to matter volumes, while the budgets for the entire department stay the same. The recent surveys also reflect this gap. A report by the Thomson Reuters Institute\u2019s 2026 State of the Corporate Law Department showed that 86% of the GCs who participated in the study<\/a> revealed that their department provides a significant contribution to the business, but only 17% of the C-suite executives are in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gap is the reason why ROI measurement matters the most in this ever-increasing demand to streamline operations, mitigate risks, and deliver results with unmatched efficiency. The same report showed that 82% of the legal departments do not measure the ROI they get out of the technology they have deployed. Without calculating the ROI, efficiency just stays on paper and is not an actual result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When legal departments start measuring ELM ROI, they realise the opportunities for financial savings, productivity gains, and risk reduction within the department. This eventually leads to results that show up in reduced counsel spend, more hours from manual work, and fewer compliance gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is ELM Software ROI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ROI means Return on Investment, therefore, ELM software ROI means the return the entire legal department gets after ELM software<\/a> is deployed. The return is compared to the money spent on running the software. That is how you understand if using the software is beneficial for the department. While calculating ROI, you can see direct impact on cost savings, outside counsel spend, productivity gains, and risk reduction, given that the ELM software is running smoothly and is aligned with business goals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talk about cost savings and business value, we have to understand both of them are different and equally important. Talking about cost savings to your CFO<\/a> is easy, as they are easy to calculate and defend. It\u2019s just a figure: money spent before v\/s money spent after. Business value, on the other hand, has a broader scope and includes a range of things the department would struggle to put a single number on, such as faster decision-making and better retention for lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A practical way to frame the calculation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELM ROI = (Financial Savings + Productivity Gains + Risk Reduction Value) \u00f7 Technology Investment \u00d7 100<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note<\/span>: This isn’t an official industry formula but a working model for organizing the calculation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Legal Teams Need to Measure Technology ROI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rising pressure and more scrutiny than ever before: <\/strong>Outside counsel rates keep getting higher with time, outpacing inflation, and legal departments need to provide a defensible answer when finance asks what the technology spend is actually buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spend visibility has become a baseline expectation: <\/strong>With growing complexity in the legal work, it has become increasingly important for legal teams to be able to show where the legal spend goes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal needs a way to prove its value to the rest of the business: <\/strong>When the right tech is deployed, and ROI data is always available for reference, every executive conversation is evidence-backed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Accelerated<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How to Calculate ROI of ELM Software<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Calculate Cost Savings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Outside counsel spend typically provides the clearest ROI signal in most departments. Starting from the department’s current process, rather than an industry-wide percentage, is more defensible. This approach makes sense because departments with fully manual invoice review, and those lacking systematic flagging of billing guideline violations or automated rate enforcement, have a lot to gain from automation, as every unreviewed invoice can be a potential leak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current annual outside counsel spend is the starting point. For a specific department, take this amount, the ACC’s 2025 benchmarking report<\/a> says the median is $1.1 million, and estimate the percentage that goes through manual, unflagged review. This percentage represents the department’s actual exposure. An e-billing platform with automated guideline enforcement is designed to close this exposure, and then there’s also invoice leakage caught by automated bill review or reduced administrative headcount needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Measure Productivity Gains<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Productivity gains are measured in hours, and to convert them to dollars, you multiply the hours saved by a fully burdened hourly rate; it’s that straightforward; this conversion is easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The categories worth tracking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n