TRUE COST OF IN-HOUSE LEGAL STAFF
What does one in-house legal staff member actually cost?
Base salary is only the visible cost. The calculator applies one 1.4 planning multiplier for the modeled employment burden, then compares the same team size at the published Telamanis per-member rate.
Visible vs. hidden
The salary is only the receipt.
The real cost is the operating drag around the employee.
Visible costs
- Salary or hourly wage
- Payroll taxes
- Benefits
- Health insurance
- PTO and sick leave
- Retirement contribution
- Equipment, software, and office overhead
Hidden operating costs
- Attorney training time
- Senior staff training time
- Management time
- Mistake correction and rework
- Turnover and replacement
- Lost institutional knowledge
- HR and legal risk exposure
Cost stack
The cost model needs both sides of the ledger.
The salary line is visible. The loaded-cost side uses one consolidated planning allowance for payroll taxes, benefits, healthcare, training, turnover, HR, and overhead without adding those categories twice.
The salary is only the receipt. The real cost is the operating drag around the employee.
Attorney time
Every hour spent training staff is an hour not spent moving cases.
Attorney and senior staff time is often one of the largest onboarding costs. The approved 1.4 planning multiplier includes an allowance for training and related employment burden without adding those categories a second time.
Loaded-cost comparison
Compare the same team size.
Enter the annual base salary for one in-house role. The model applies a single 1.4 multiplier for payroll taxes, benefits, healthcare, training, turnover, HR, and overhead, then compares the same team size at $3,500 per month per Telamanis member.
Decision model
Turn staffing assumptions into a visible operating model.
A clean cost model helps the firm compare fixed payroll, training drag, management load, and replacement cycles against managed production capacity.
FAQ
Cost model questions.
Is this calculator a savings guarantee?
No. It is an illustrative planning model. It applies one 1.4 multiplier to base payroll for the modeled employment burden, then compares the same team size at the published Telamanis per-member rate.
What does the 1.4 multiplier represent?
It is a planning allowance for payroll taxes, benefits, healthcare, training, turnover, HR, and overhead. Those categories are not added again as separate inputs.
What is not monetized here?
The model does not assign a dollar value to every error, missed deadline, morale issue, or HR exposure. It keeps those categories visible without pretending they have one universal price.
Guided systems review
Compare this model to a managed Telamanis seat.
Bring your real base-payroll assumptions to the staffing analysis and use the comparison as a planning conversation, not a savings guarantee.