Support and outsourcing in Almaty — we select the format to match your company's workload

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Ongoing support and outsourcing: how to calculate legal workload and choose a format

The question is usually framed like this: hire an in-house lawyer, outsource the legal function, or handle matters as they come up. People try to decide based on the size of the company and its turnover, although those figures say almost nothing about the actual workload. It is far more accurate to count by documents, conflicts and court cases.

The article shows what to count as a unit of workload, how to split tasks into ongoing and one-off, and where the line between formats lies. We also look separately at the comparison with an in-house lawyer, the differences for sole traders and LLPs, industry specifics and the growth points that get missed in the calculation. In the end, the workload itself suggests the format.

What to count as a company's legal workload: ongoing support and outsourcing as two reference points

A company's legal workload is the volume of legal work that arises in its activities over a period and must be done regardless of who exactly does it. It is usually counted by recurring operations: checking a counterparty in the Legal Cadastre, preparing and agreeing contracts, HR orders, responding to requests from state bodies, working with receivables. The volume is visible from record-keeping: how many tasks of the same type arise per month, how long each takes, which require immediate involvement and which can wait. This record-keeping, rather than a wish to save money, becomes the reference point when choosing a support format.

Ongoing support and outsourcing differ not in the status of the person doing the work, but in how responsibility for the workload is distributed. With ongoing support, the company keeps its current processes and receives support in specific areas: contracts, HR, corporate decisions. With outsourcing, the entire regular flow of legal work is moved outside, including routine and recurring tasks. An in-house lawyer covers the workload from within, but their capacity is limited by volume and specialisation.

• List all types of legal work that arose over recent months, including one-off and minor ones.
• Mark each task as recurring or one-off.
• Assess how long one such task takes and how many times a month it arises.
• Determine which tasks require specialisation: court cases, procurement, taxes, HR.
• Compare the resulting volume with the resource the company is prepared to keep in-house.
• See where delays and overloads arise: they show which support format fits.

How to calculate the workload: a unit of account for legal support and outsourcing

To calculate the legal workload, it is reduced to a single unit of account — a similar type of operation per period. Such a unit can be one contract, one letter, one request from a counterparty or employee, one enquiry from a state body, one bid in procurement. Operations are counted not by importance but by the fact of completion: signed, sent, processed, registered.

Contracts and requests are recorded per month in a registration log or in an electronic document management system, where incoming and outgoing documents, the date and the person responsible are recorded. From a month's sample it is clear how many operations are repeated and which take up the main time. For the calculation, it is enough to divide operations into groups by type and complexity rather than describe each one separately.

The resulting figure shows how many similar actions are performed regularly and how they are distributed across the weeks. If the workload consists of one-off tasks of different profiles, the unit of account will show the share of repeatable operations and the share of non-standard ones. This is the basis for calculating legal support and outsourcing: the volume of operations is compared with the support format, not with a subjective feeling of being busy.

• Contracts: how many projects, supplementary agreements and protocols of disagreements pass through in a month.
• Letters and notifications: incoming and outgoing correspondence, claims, replies to counterparties.
• Requests from employees and departments: applications, internal memos, requests for approval.
• Enquiries from state bodies and procurement participants: notifications, clarifications, requests via eGov.
• Typical operations within a group: the more often an action is repeated, the higher the regular workload.

Which tasks fall within ongoing support and outsourcing, and which remain one-off

Repeatable operations support the company's activities continuously: reviewing draft contracts as they come in, visas on HR orders, replies to counterparties' requests, monitoring changes in legislation and handling ongoing registration actions in the Legal Cadastre. They are tied to the client's calendar and internal regulations, so they are conveniently handled as ongoing legal support. A one-off task arises from a specific event and ends with a result rather than maintaining a process: preparing an individual transaction, supporting the registration of a legal entity or its branch, developing a new set of internal documents.

The boundary between the formats runs along repeatability and predictability, not complexity. Support and outsourcing are built on the regular workload of a specialist who holds the company's context and allocates time between current requests; one-off tasks require mobilisation for a specific deadline and do not create a constant flow. Both models can be combined: part of the work is done on a regular basis, part is closed as separate projects within the same practice.

• Reviewing and approving contracts with counterparties, including protocols of disagreements.
• Maintaining HR records: orders, employment contracts, local acts.
• Corporate procedures: decisions of participants, changes to constituent documents, registration actions.
• Handling claims and enquiries from state bodies within current activities.
• Monitoring legislation and informing about the impact of changes on the company's operations.
• One-off projects: a complex transaction, reorganisation, development of a separate set of internal rules.

Practice experience: 13 years working with businesses — transactions, contracts, HR, corporate matters.

Support and outsourcing or one-off engagements: where the line is

The one-off model works while tasks are isolated and unconnected: draft a contract, prepare a response to a claim, look into a question. Such an engagement can be closed and you return to your current work. The line is crossed where a task stops being standalone and pulls related matters with it: an amendment to one contract changes the template for a dozen transactions, a response to a counterparty affects other agreements, a decision on one employee sets the pattern for the entire HR document flow.

When the connections become regular, one-off engagements and ongoing support stop being an equal choice. The ongoing format is needed not because of the volume of documents, but because of the need to hold the context: which terms have been agreed, where the risks remain, which deadlines under contracts and permit procedures are coming up. With one-off work the context is reassembled from scratch, and part of the time goes on restoring the picture rather than on the task.

• standard-form contracts and HR documents require regular review and updated templates
• questions come in a stream and concern terms already agreed earlier
• deadlines under contracts, permits and internal documents need to be tracked constantly
• decisions in one area affect others and require a single approach
• in-house teams cannot keep up with the incoming volume and lose context between tasks
• the workload is uneven: periods of downtime alternate with peaks that are hard to cover on a one-off basis

Ongoing support and outsourcing versus an in-house lawyer: a comparison by scope of work

A comparison of a staff function and an external arrangement turns not on cost but on the scope of work: which tasks are handled continuously, which arise on a project basis, and where the line of control runs. The question is not one of status but of how even and predictable the legal workload is by type across the year. That determines where a backlog of undone tasks builds up.

An in-house employee is embedded in internal processes: approving contracts, correspondence with counterparties, attending meetings, HR and corporate documents, dealing with state bodies through eGov. They see the operational detail, but their workload depends on the flow of instructions and management priorities: in a lull they sit idle, at a peak they cannot keep up, and the range of their expertise is limited to experience in a single industry.

An external arrangement is built differently: routine matters are distributed among the practice's specialists, while project tasks — contract work, corporate procedures, support during inspections and procurement — are brought in as needed. The scope of work is more flexible: for a non-standard question, the practice can find a lawyer specialising in the relevant industry without searching and hiring. Control shifts: internal policies and priorities remain with the client, while the legal work and its quality rest with the provider.

• Current contracts and correspondence: in-house — daily routine; in an external arrangement — distributed among specialists.
• Project tasks: corporate procedures, support during inspections, procurement — brought in as they arise.
• Industry expertise: in-house it is limited to one lawyer's experience; in an external arrangement there is access to the practice's specialist lawyers.
• Control and priorities: the client sets internal policies, the provider is responsible for the legal work.
• Workload: in-house it depends on the flow of instructions; in an external arrangement it scales to the volume of work.
• Continuity: in-house it depends on one employee; in an external arrangement it depends on the team and the practice's internal processes.

The format is chosen not by the size of the company but by how many documents actually pass through it each month and whether there are conflicts and court cases.

Ongoing support and outsourcing for sole traders and LLPs: how the workload differs

The volume of legal work is determined not by the legal form but by the document flow. For a sole trader it is narrower: contracts with suppliers and clients, HR matters for a small number of employees, reporting to the state revenue bodies. For an LLP, corporate decisions, dealings with participants, internal policies, and — at higher turnover — tenders and inspections are added. That is why a lawyer for a sole trader more often handles standard tasks, while a lawyer for an LLP runs several areas at once.

Assess the workload correctly by the actual document flow: how many documents pass through in a month, how many conflicts there are and whether there are court cases. The size of the company and its turnover matter less than this flow. A small LLP with intensive contract turnover generates more legal work than a sole trader with occasional transactions.

Hence the choice of format. With a steady flow of similar documents, periodic consultations and template reviews are enough. When regular transactions, HR matters and disputes appear, ongoing support and outsourcing for a sole trader or LLP handle tasks as they come in. If legal work becomes daily and touches several areas, an in-house lawyer on the permanent staff is considered.

A practical assessment rests on observable indicators, not on status.

• The number of incoming and outgoing contracts per month.
• The number of HR documents and internal policies.
• The frequency of queries on tax and administrative matters.
• The presence of current conflicts with counterparties and employees.
• The number of cases currently before the courts.
• The share of standard documents versus non-standard ones.

Ongoing support and outsourcing: how the frequency of tasks determines the format

The frequency of legal tasks is the most practical criterion for choosing between ongoing support and outsourcing. If questions arise only occasionally — a disputed counterparty, an HR matter, a one-off change to the constituent documents — a permanent arrangement is not needed: a specialist is brought in for the task, and the document flow is handled by employees.

Regular turnover is a sign that the format is worth discussing in concrete terms. Contracts, orders, claims and requests to state bodies come in a stream, and someone has to keep them within agreed boundaries. This is where support works: ongoing work on current matters with a defined scope, while part of the function stays in-house.

A constant flow of routine and complex tasks, including HR document flow, claims work and reporting, tips the balance towards transferring the legal function entirely. Outsourcing is appropriate when no in-house specialist remains. The difference between the formats lies in the scope of work and the labour intensity, not in the frequency of requests.

The frequency of requests is influenced by industry specifics. Trade and services generate more contractual and consumer work, construction and procurement more permitting and claims work, and staff-heavy sectors more HR documents. The same revenue volume produces a different legal workload.

Indicators used to assess the workload:

• the number of new contracts and supplementary agreements per month
• the number of HR orders, notifications and local acts
• the volume of incoming claims and correspondence
• the number of requests and notifications from state bodies
• the frequency of changes to registration data and structure
• the share of routine operations that can be set out in written procedures

Support and outsourcing: which set of work each format covers

The scope of legal work in a company is best assessed not by service names but by the regularity of operations. Recurring tasks — reviewing contracts, HR orders, responding to requests from state bodies, working with the eGov portal and the Legal Cadastre — create a constant workload. One-off tasks, such as registering an LLP or supporting a transaction, require a different profile. Support and outsourcing differ precisely in which sets of operations each format covers.

One in-house lawyer covers one profile: for example, contractual work or corporate procedures. For tax matters or intellectual property, the company still turns to external specialists. The full cost of an in-house lawyer consists of salary, contributions, workplace, holiday and sick leave, training, and the time spent on recruitment and onboarding. That is why workload is measured in labour intensity, not in money.

• identify the list of operations and their frequency per month;
• divide the operations into recurring and one-off;
• note which operations require a separate profile;
• compare the formats by the number of sets of work they cover.
• choose the format by labour intensity, not by name.

The format is chosen based on the number of sets of operations that need to be covered regularly.

Support and outsourcing and industry specifics: where the load is higher

Industry specifics of legal work show up in the density of operations requiring legal involvement. In construction, this means acceptance of works, as-built documentation at the site, approvals with the client and contractors, and land and permitting matters. In retail, the main flow comes from contract work with suppliers and buyers, the claims procedure, return of goods and consumer protection. Services carry the load through public contracts, personal data processing and settlements with clients, while manufacturing adds occupational health and safety, environmental requirements and industrial safety.

The legal workload depends on the number of counterparties and how closely documents are tied to the production process. Where a lawyer is needed daily and takes part in processes — in acceptance, in work with documents at the site — an in-house hire is justified. If legal operations come in waves: a peak when transactions are concluded, a lull in between, then support and outsourcing by industry covers the need without a permanent workplace.

Support and outsourcing: how to assess the need for a permanent format based on documents

The starting point for choosing between a one-off engagement, an in-house lawyer and external support is an analysis of document flow, not a feeling of being busy. Take the registration logs and approval cards for the last 12 months and count the volume of legal work passing through the lawyer. The indicator "how many contracts per month" says little on its own: what matters is how many of them are standard, how many require drafting, and how many go to approval.

Consider not only contracts. The same sample includes powers of attorney for employees and representatives, orders on core activities and HR, internal policies and regulations, claims and responses to them, letters from counterparties and state bodies, and requests to the Legal Cadastre and the eGov portal. Separately note recurring types of documents: if the same form is approved month after month with minimal edits, that is a sign of template work, not unique work.

• Export the register of contracts for the period and divide them into standard ones, those requiring amendments, and those requiring support with performance.
• Count the powers of attorney issued, orders adopted, and policies and regulations approved.
• Gather incoming and outgoing correspondence: claims, letters from counterparties, responses to requests from state bodies.
• Flag recurring types of documents that are approved regularly and almost without changes.
• Compare the volume with the range of matters: current transactions, court cases, procurement, taxes, corporate procedures.
• Determine which areas remain with the in-house lawyer and which require a separate specialist in the field.

Support and outsourcing: the growth points in workload that are missed when calculating

When calculating legal workload, contracts and court cases are usually taken into account. Meanwhile, hidden workload comes from day-to-day matters: correspondence with counterparties on delivery terms, claims on quality, approval of protocols of disagreements, responses to letters about postponing deadlines. Each enquiry requires legal assessment, otherwise the correspondence records a position that is later used against the company. Operational staff handle it without regard to legal risks.

A separate growth point is HR documents. Hiring, transfers, combining roles, disciplinary procedures, holiday schedules, acts and notices on employment relations must comply with the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and internal rules. An error in an order or the absence of a mandatory notice results in an individual labour dispute. HR record-keeping is usually not treated as legal work, although some non-obvious legal tasks arise here.

• correspondence with counterparties: claims, protocols of disagreements, notices of changes to terms
• HR documents: orders, notices, acts, internal labour policies
• responses to requests from state bodies and preparation of explanations
• internal policies, contract templates and approval procedures
• review of documents for one-off transactions and operations
• consultations for managers and departments on current matters

Support and outsourcing: how to choose the format for your workload

Choosing the format of support starts with taking stock of the legal work. Take the operations of the last few months: contracts for approval and renewal, invoices and acts, HR orders, employee enquiries, letters from state bodies, claims, registration actions in the Legal Cadastre and through the Public Service Centre. Describe each in one line: what it is, who initiates it, what document comes out of it. This shows what the workload consists of.

Then determine the regularity: recurring (monthly, quarterly, seasonal) and one-off operations — a transaction, a dispute, an inspection, a reorganisation. Repeatability and predictability of volume are the main criterion: they make a permanent format meaningful, while occasional tasks are handled on a one-off basis. Knowing how many similar actions arise per month makes it easier to decide between outsourcing and in-house staff: support and outsourcing — the choice rests on the volume and stability of the flow.

Match the workload to the formats. A constant flow of similar operations requiring immersion in context points to an in-house lawyer; a variable volume with peaks and rare specialised matters points to external support; isolated non-standard tasks require neither. How to choose the format of legal support comes down to three questions: how many operations, how regular they are, how specific they are.

• Compile a list of operations over several months, indicating the initiator and the result.
• Note which operations recur and which arise on a one-off basis.
• Assess how many specialised matters require separate qualifications.
• Determine whether a permanent person inside the company is needed or external support is sufficient.
• Establish a single point of contact, regardless of the chosen format.