You’re constantly firefighting, your inbox is full of urgent ‘quick ones’, and there’s no time to tackle the strategic work that really moves the needle. Sound familiar?

If so, it’s time to push for more resource. Not just because your team is busy – but because your legal function is critical to protecting and enabling the business. The trick? Framing your ask in a way that speaks the business’ language.

This blog breaks down how to make a watertight, data-backed case for more support – whether that means an extra pair of hands, smarter tech, or shifting work off legal’s plate altogether.

Start with the data: measure what matters

Before you can ask for more, you need to know exactly what you’re dealing with. That means tracking:

• What kind of work your team is doing – and how much of it.
• The balance of high-value vs low-value tasks.
• Your spend on external counsel (and whether you’re outsourcing work you could keep in-house).
• What your peers in other functions are doing. Has HR grown while legal stayed the same? Have finance’s tools evolved but yours haven’t?

This isn’t about showing how busy you are. It’s about understanding where your time is going, what’s adding value, and where you’re hitting diminishing returns.

Top tip: Don’t forget to benchmark. Recruiters and other in-house teams can be great sources of comparative data to help shape your narrative.

Align with the business strategy

 Your ask won’t land if it’s only about legal’s needs. Show how the resourcing gap is holding the business back.

• Has turnover grown without a matching increase in legal headcount?
• Are there regulatory or commercial risks looming that you won’t be able to manage at current capacity?
• Could you support growth, expansion, or innovation more effectively with the right tools or team structure?

Get familiar with the business plan. Look at where the business is headed – and show how legal can help it get there faster, smarter and with less risk if it has the right resources in place.

Show the cost of doing nothing

Don’t just highlight the potential benefits – make the risks of inaction crystal clear.

• Are you constantly firefighting?
• Is legal becoming a bottleneck?
• Are other teams bypassing you (or going rogue) because the current process is too slow?
• Are you seeing attrition, burnout or morale issues?
• Are you stuck doing low-impact work that should be automated or delegated?

This is your opportunity to shift the conversation from “nice to have” to “mission critical”.

Explore all the options – and be pragmatic

Sometimes, a full-time hire is the answer. But sometimes it isn’t. Your case will be stronger if you’ve explored multiple ways to solve the problem, such as:

• Hiring an interim lawyer or flexible legal consultant.
• Investing in legal tech or workflow tools already available within your organisation.
• Outsourcing low-risk, high-volume tasks to an ALSP or legal process outsourcer.
• Bringing in a non-lawyer specialist – like a contract manager or legal ops pro – to free up lawyer time.
• Moving some tasks into the business with proper enablement and training.

This shows that you’re solutions-focused, commercially minded and not just chasing headcount for the sake of it.

Make your case visually and strategically

Once you’ve got your data and recommendations lined up, it’s time to pitch. The most effective cases are:

• Clear – Set out the current state, the risks and the opportunity.
• Structured – Use a simple narrative and back it up with metrics.
• Visual – Use charts, heatmaps or workflow diagrams to show workload and bottlenecks.
• Commercial – Frame everything around cost-benefit and business impact.
• Strategic – Align with business goals, risk appetite and growth plans.

If you’re proposing a hire, show where they’ll slot in and what they’ll unlock. If you’re suggesting tech, spell out the savings and improvements. If you’re shifting work, map out the training and guardrails.

And always include a comparison with alternative options to show you’ve done your homework.

If the answer is no (for now)…

Don’t panic – or park the idea. You’ve still laid important groundwork.

Keep tracking the data and checking in with the business. Resurface your case when a new initiative lands, a crisis flares up, or someone asks why a project stalled. Your original proposal may be more compelling with a few months of extra evidence behind it.

And in the meantime? Don’t be afraid to push for interim support to plug the gap. Whether that’s a temporary consultant, external partner or quick tech fix, a little investment now could save a lot of cost (and frustration) later.

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