90-day plan template

As an in-house lawyer joining a new company, how do you make sure you’re setting yourself up for success in the critical first 90 days?

Use this 90-day plan template to plot your key milestones and get started on the front foot.

This template was created with a lawyer joining a tech company in mind. Adapt it to your needs and use it as a framework as you support the wider business.

Access the 90-day plan template here.

If setting up frictionless contract workflows is something you want to tackle sooner rather than later, hit the button below to talk to a specialist. For more information on 90-day planning for in-house legal, their purpose, and what they should look like, keep on reading below.

What is a 90-day plan?

A 90-day plan is a structure that can help sole counsel at high-growth businesses prioritize their work over the critical first three months.

There are many tasks an in-house lawyer may need to focus on, from ‘BAU’ work and firefighting to long-term strategic work, gap-fill projects, and just getting to know colleagues in the business.

It can be challenging to figure out where you need to dedicate your time and attention, which is where the 90-day plan comes in.

Why is a 90-day plan important for legal?

The 90-day plan can help in-house legal prioritize their workload, measure success, and offer visibility to the wider business.

It’s an effective way to ensure that legal doesn’t work in a bubble, and that the work they do is accessible and well understood by others in the business.

What should a 90-day plan look like?

There are various formats and systems you can use to create your 90-day plan - you can integrate it into your task-tracking system, or keep it simple with a spreadsheet.

Our template is designed as a table in Notion, the organizational project-tracking tool. For more information, check out our guide on legal software.

It contains three columns:

Focus area - this covers the type of project you have on your list, and can make it easy to group different tasks together. The options in our template include discovery, risk, ways of working, contracts, and data protection
Milestone - the 90-day plan includes milestone examples to help you visualize how you will complete a certain task or project on your list. This also helps in making each task on your list more achievable and actionable
Day - the 90-day plan has three options for this column; 30, 60, and 90. This acts as a time commitment to which you’ll aim to complete a certain task. It also helps with visualising legal’s workload over the next three months, and understanding where you’re spending the majority of your time

By using this resource, you can set yourself up for success in your in-house legal role and establish a strong action plan for your first 90 days at a high-growth business.