Professional Firms

Cut lock-up by 41 days and rebuilt partner profitability reporting

Regional Law Firm (68 fee earners)

Duration: 6 months
Team: Partner, practice controller, BI developer
Scope: 68 fee earners, 4 practice groups
Region: Nigeria

Lock-up

91 days

-31%

PEP

+34%

YoY

Realisation

92%

+9pts

Utilisation

1,540 hrs

+180 hrs

The full story

Client challenge

A regional law firm knew its revenue but not its true profitability. WIP and unbilled fees were ballooning and partner draws were disconnected from performance.

The starting position

The firm knew what it billed but not what it earned. Work in progress aged quietly, bills went out when partners remembered, and partner drawings bore no relationship to the profitability of the matters each partner controlled.

What we actually changed

We introduced a WIP policy with matter budgets, billing guidelines and a lock-up committee meeting weekly. Partner-level P&Ls and a rolling 13-week cash forecast replaced annual guesswork, and utilisation and realisation became standing agenda items.

Why it stuck

Transparency between partners was the mechanism. Once every partner could see every other partner's lock-up and realisation, behaviour changed within two billing cycles.

Our solution

Implemented practice-management billing discipline, monthly partner P&Ls and a rolling 13-week cash flow. Introduced a lock-up committee with weekly cadence.

Business outcome

Lock-up dropped from 132 to 91 days. Partner profits per equity partner rose 34% within the first full year.

Implementation process

1
Diagnostic of matter lifecycle from engagement to collection across 4 practice groups.
2
Rebuilt WIP policy, billing guidelines and matter budgeting templates.
3
Deployed practice management + BI layer with partner-level dashboards.
4
Weekly lock-up committee and monthly partner performance review.

Expanded engagement metrics

Fee earners on time capture

68

daily, enforced

Matters budgeted

310

scope and fee agreed upfront

Lock-up days reduced

-41

WIP plus debtors

Cash released

₦1.4bn

one-off from lock-up unwind

Write-offs

-57%

through matter budgeting

Forecast horizon

13 weeks

rolling, updated weekly

Lock-up days

132 → 91

PEP

+34%

Cash released

₦410m

Before and after comparison
Metric	Before Soteria	After Soteria
Lock-up days	132	91
Realisation rate	83%	92%
Utilisation / earner	1,360	1,540
Profit per equity partner	₦86m	₦115m

"The firm now runs on numbers, not narratives. Partners are aligned because the scoreboard is clear."

B

Barr. C. Nwosu

Managing Partner

Your outcome, engineered

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Fixed-fee scope before we start
First results inside 90 days
NDA signed before any data moves

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