Scaling an IP law firm
From a 2:1 to 4:1 lawyer-to-paralegal ratio
That.legal is a boutique law firm specialising in international intellectual property law, helping clients protect and maximise the value of their intangible assets.
Their ambition: To increase flexibility and scale while reducing operational costs
That.legal is required to maintain strict and contemporaneous records. Traditionally, this required significant time and resources to be dedicated to administrative tasks such as printing, filing, time recording, and billing.
Previously, these activities consumed around 60–70% of their paralegals’ time.
Before Tessaract, their lawyer-to-paralegal ratio was approximately two-to-one.
The firm wanted to scale efficiently while reducing operational costs and improving flexibility for employees. With Tessaract, they are able to operate at a four-to-one ratio, with eight lawyers supported by just two support staff. They hope to expand this to five-to-one or even six-to-one in the future.

Tessaract.io has been a key driver for growing our firm, improving our lawyer to paralegal ratio from 2:1 to 4:1.
Why they chose Tessaract
The firm was looking for a modern legal technology platform that could help digitise operations, improve visibility across the business, support flexible working, and create a more scalable way of operating.
Tessaract’s combination of time recording, digital workflows, mobile accessibility, and business insight capabilities aligned closely with the firm’s ambitions to become more agile, data driven, and operationally efficient.
Tessaract has been a key driver for growth and technological change at our firm.
The results - scaling efficiently while reducing overheads
Since implementing Tessaract.io, That.legal has significantly improved operational efficiency and scalability.
The firm increased its lawyer-to-support staff ratio from two-to-one to four-to-one, with eight lawyers supported by just two support staff, while continuing to scale operations.
By digitising files and workflows, the firm also reduced its physical office footprint and achieved approximately 40% savings on rent after moving to a more flexible co-working environment.
Tessaract has also enabled:
- Hybrid and remote working across teams
- Mobile time recording and case access
- Faster adoption of digital workflows
- Improved visibility into lawyer performance
- Access to real-time law firm business insights and reporting
- More data-driven operational decision making
The platform’s fee earner time tracking and remote accessibility tools have helped the firm manage IP protection, commercialisation, and dispute resolution teams more efficiently without requiring everyone to be in the office at the same time.
40%
savings on rent
4:1
Lawyers to support ratio
8
Lawyers supported by 2 staff
It has made us more agile, data driven and efficient
See all that you can accomplish
with Tessaract
Legal tech insights from the Tessaract team

Why law firm data needs to leave the boardroom
Law firm leaders generally feel well informed. In our research with LPM, Mind the Delivery Gap, 80% say leadership has sufficient visibility into performance, while 79% believe their legal management information supports effective decision-making.
Mike Hinchliffe

Why data driven fee earners are a competitive advantage for law firms
Law firms have never had more data. The challenge is making sure the right people can access the right information at the right time. Our Mind the Delivery Gap research, produced in partnership with LPM, found that 79% of firms believe their management information supports decision making effectively, and 80% say leadership has sufficient visibility into firm performance. However, there is a significant disconnect. Only 14% of respondents said the information they need is always available, and 29% believe providing better insight to fee earners should be an essential investment priority.
Mike Hinchliffe

When systems don't connect, your IT team becomes the integration layer
They appear as a report that needs to be manually reconciled before it can be trusted. A user raises another support ticket because two systems show different information. A spreadsheet quietly becomes essential to a core process. A member of the IT team is asked to extract, reformat and move data between applications because there is no reliable way for it to flow automatically.
Mike Hinchliffe

Measuring matter profitability remains a challenge for law firms
Every pricing decision, hiring decision and growth plan depends on understanding one thing: which matters actually make money. Yet our Mind the Delivery Gap research, produced in partnership with LPM, found that only 18% of firms are completely confident in their ability to assess matter profitability. A further 38% say their view is inconsistent or inaccurate, while 67% of leaders report that users experience frustrations with their core systems.
Mike Hinchliffe

Can your law firm grow without adding more operational pressure?
Growth is firmly on the agenda for mid-size UK law firms. According to Mind the Delivery Gap, our research completed in partnership with LPM. 44% expect moderate organic growth, 33% are pursuing geographic growth and 20% anticipate growth through mergers and acquisitions.
Mike Hinchliffe

Does legal practice management software need accounting?
When law firms replace their legal practice management software, accounting is increasingly becoming part of the same conversation. Our recent discussions with law firm buyers show firms looking for systems that combine practice management, legal accounting, billing and client money management, rather than treating finance as a completely separate technology decision.
Cherilyn Tan

Mid-size law firms flock to the cloud: Why cloud native software is now your best bet
The legal sector is entering a new phase of digital transformation. What was once considered a gradual shift toward cloud technology has now become a clear industry movement.
Mike Hinchliffe

What is legal practice management software and what should it actually do?
Choosing legal practice management software is one of the most important technology decisions a law firm can make. Yet many firms still evaluate systems based on feature lists alone.
Beth Crease

Is technology becoming a deciding factor for potential employees?
Recruiting and retaining talent remains a persistent challenge for mid-size law firms. They are competing with larger firms that can often offer higher salaries, structured career progression, and more established remote working options.
Mike Hinchliffe

What processes are mid-market law firms automating and where should you start?
One of the greatest benefits of modernising your practice management software is the ability to automate more processes across your firm. Automation helps streamline operations, eliminate workarounds, and reduce manual tasks that otherwise occupy fee earners and support staff’s precious and often, expensive time.
Mike Hinchliffe