This paper is the second in a two-part series.

In the first paper — In-House Lawyers: Strapping an F1 Engine on a Shopping Cart — we examined why in-house legal human capital has historically under-delivered on performance and return on investment. 

The conclusion was clear: not because lawyers lack capability, but because they have been deployed without a deliberately designed system around them.

This paper introduces that system.

Specifically, it introduces the GLS Human Capital Line — the practical delivery vehicle through which GLS helps in-house legal teams design, assess, and optimise human capital performance in a way that is scalable, sustainable, and commercially defensible.

Why a Human Capital Line Exists at All

GLS approaches legal transformation through the lens of 15 Core Legal Functions — the full set of capabilities that must operate effectively for an in-house legal function to perform at a consistently high level.

All fifteen matter.
But the Human Capital Line is among the most consequential.

Every other legal function — no matter how well designed — is mediated through people.
If human capital performance is constrained, every other function plateaus early.

The GLS Human Capital Line exists because optimising people performance is not an HR exercise.
It is a core legal performance problem.

Why the Line Is Organised Around Foundational Dimensions

The GLS Human Capital Line is structured around eight Foundational Dimensions.

These are not thematic groupings.
They are foundational dimensions of performance — areas where weak or missing design decisions will inevitably constrain legal effectiveness and ROI.

Each Foundational Dimension:

• answers a distinct class of leadership questions
• is supported by specific stations on the Human Capital Line
• represents a real, observable performance constraint

You do not complete these dimensions sequentially.
You operate across them simultaneously.

The Eight Foundational Dimensions of the GLS Human Capital System

1. Mandate & Authority

Why does legal exist — and what is it actually accountable for?

This Foundational Dimension establishes the legitimacy of the legal function.

Without mandate and authority:

• legal becomes reactive
• priorities are constantly renegotiated
• success is subjective
• value is asserted rather than recognised

This dimension forces clarity on why legal exists, what outcomes it is accountable for, and who carries authority on behalf of the business.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Legal Dept. Mandate: the formal authorisation from the business defining why the legal function exists and what it is expected to deliver
• Legal Dept. Service Charter: the agreed service-level compact that sets expectations on how legal support will be provided
• General Counsel: the accountable leader responsible for delivering the mandate and exercising authority on behalf of the business

If this dimension is weak, everything downstream underperforms.

2. Legal Method

How is legal judgement applied — consistently and at scale?

Once authority exists, inconsistency becomes the greatest performance risk.

This Foundational Dimension addresses how legal judgement is formed, communicated, and relied upon — so advice does not depend on who happens to be asked.

Legal Method is what turns individual expertise into institutional reliability.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Group Legal Policy: the approved legal positions, outcomes, and risk posture that guide legal decision-making
• Legal Dept. Service Charter: reinforcing how legal engages with and supports the business
• Structure & Responsibilities: clarifying decision rights, accountability, and escalation paths
• Internal Client Engagement: aligning legal guidance with how the business actually operates

Without this dimension, legal cannot scale judgement without friction or risk.

3. Team Selection & Composition

Who is deployed — and why?

This Foundational Dimension reframes resourcing as a leadership discipline, not a staffing exercise.

It forces conscious decisions about which capability sits in-house, when flexibility is required, and how judgement is best deployed.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• General Counsel: lead selector responsible for assembling and deploying the legal team
• Full Time Team: the core in-house capability that services the majority of legal demand
• Agile Resourcing Strategy: flexible access to specialist skills and surge capacity as demand changes
• Roles & Responsibilities: clear definition of who does what within the legal function
• Organisation Design: the functional structure that determines how legal capability is organised
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusiveness: broadening access to talent to strengthen capability and performance

Legal performance depends less on headcount size than on deliberate team selection.

4. Essential Operating Infrastructure

What must exist for legal to function at all?

This Foundational Dimension defines the base operating environment of the legal function.

It addresses the structural foundations that determine whether legal work flows smoothly or collapses into dependency on individual heroics.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Organisation Design: the functional environment in which the legal team operates
• Process & Procedures: the core operating infrastructure that stabilises and standardises delivery
• Legal Operations: the coordinating function that ensures people, process, and systems work together
• IHL Platform / Resources: the foundational platforms and resources supporting legal work

This is the dimension most organisations under-invest in — and then pay for repeatedly.

5. Team Enablement

How does legal achieve industrial scale without industrial headcount?

Enablement is about leverage.

This Foundational Dimension focuses on how judgement is converted into repeatable, scalable execution — so output grows without proportional cost growth.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Process & Procedures: designed to convert legal judgement into repeatable, scalable execution
• Knowledge Management Platform: structured capture and reuse of legal knowledge, precedents, and guidance
• IHL Platform / Resources: practical tools and resources that support daily legal delivery

This is where ROI is multiplied and smart lawyers stop doing dumb work.

6. Lawyer Development & Progression

How does legal capability compound over time?

This Foundational Dimension addresses one of the most persistent failure points in in-house legal.

Without visible development and progression, capability plateaus and attrition becomes inevitable.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Career Development: structured pathways for skill growth, progression, and role evolution
• Performance Reviews: formal feedback mechanisms linking contribution, capability, and development
• Community: fostering connection, shared learning, and professional identity within the legal team

Retention is not cultural luck — it is a design outcome.

7. Securing Team Performance

How do we know we are actually performing well?

This Foundational Dimension makes performance explicit rather than assumed.

It ensures that quality, consistency, alignment, and effectiveness are deliberately designed into how legal operates.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• Quality Assurance: structured review mechanisms that validate legal outputs against defined quality and commercial standards
• Legal Operations: ensuring performance is supported by systems and structure, not heroics
• Internal Client Engagement: aligning legal delivery tightly to business objectives and outcomes
• Process & Procedures: intentionally designed to deliver the required performance levels at scale

Effort is not performance.
Performance must be verified and reinforced.

8. Continuity, Governance & Sustainability

How does the system survive growth, pressure, and change?

This Foundational Dimension addresses the long-term integrity of the human capital system.

Without governance and rhythm, standards decay and progress reverses.

The Human Capital stations relevant to building out this Foundational Dimension include:

• General Counsel: stewardship of standards, priorities, and long-term direction
• Legal Operations: ongoing governance of the operating system
• Process & Procedures: maintaining consistency as demand and complexity evolve
• Quality Assurance: preserving standards through continuous review and feedback
• Group Legal Policy: anchoring decisions to agreed positions and risk appetite

This is what allows legal performance to endure beyond individuals.

How to Explore the GLS Human Capital Line

The GLS Human Capital Line is designed to be explored, not read linearly.

Start with the GLS Legal Transformation Tube Map, which sets out the 15 Core Legal Functions required for world-class in-house performance.

Human Capital is one of those core functions — and one of the most critical.

From there:

• click into the Human Capital Line
• explore the 16 Human Capital stations
• review each station using the consistent GLS analysis:
  • what it is
  • impact on legal
  • impact on the business
  • features of best practice
  • productivity consequences if not optimised
• and dive deeper into issue-specific intelligence and resources where available

Final Orientation

The GLS Human Capital Line is not a checklist or a transformation programme.

It is a map of where human capital performance is created or destroyed in an in-house legal function.

If the first paper explained why legal human capital has historically under-performed,
this paper shows how GLS has structured a system to fix it.

Explore the GLS Human Capital Line.

That is where the system becomes real.