A combination of regulatory complexity, growing expectations, and increased demands on legal and compliance teams is driving unprecedented change in organizations and impacting every aspect of legal and corporate compliance.
According to the Legal outsourcing outlook 2022, the rising number of legal entities worldwide is one of the reasons why legal teams are struggling to keep pace with the sheer volume of work. The report finds that organizations manage as many as 13 entities in North America alone, with dozens more in other regions.
For legal teams, this means having to ensure proper compliance and governance for all of these entities. And although these tasks are often mundane, they are necessary. Any failure to perform these functions can lead to penalties and business disruption. The problem is compounded by jurisdictional differences in how laws are administered, such as customs and regulations in specific industries, as well as constant regulatory changes.
In the face of these trends, here are four ways your corporation’s legal department can improve in-house department efficiency while continuing to deliver high-quality work.
1. Align strategy with priorities and business needs
Business needs are constantly changing. This is increasingly true if your company does business in multiple jurisdictions. Factors that can impact the business environment include:
- Market and economic conditions
- New laws and updated regulations
- Environmental conditions
- Public health considerations
- Social and political changes
Your legal and compliance teams must engage in frequent communication with key stakeholders to identify and fulfill business needs and requirements. To help build a strategy for each market, they should underpin these discussions with input from local management and directors. This should be an ongoing exercise. Processes and the teams who oversee them must remain agile and pivot as needs evolve.
