Ask any General Counsel about the legal operations challenges they face on a daily basis and the answer that comes back is most likely about increasing productivity, streamlining processes and/or creating value. It all boils down to operational efficiency, and being able to work in the most strategic way possible.
To address these challenges, an entirely new discipline of “Legal Operations” was born to help GCs “do more with less”. Legal Operations (or “Legal Ops”) is a multi-disciplinary function that optimises the delivery of legal services. The goal of Legal Ops is to eliminate the barriers that prevent in-house lawyers from getting things done through the use of technology or new processes, while keeping a keen eye on costs. To spearhead this “productivity revolution”, many legal departments now employ dedicated legal operations staff to execute on how the GC wants to structure and operate the legal department.
However, for resource- and budget-strapped GCs in smaller legal departments, hiring a dedicated Legal Ops function might not be in the cards. So what can be done?
Adopting legal operations in small to mid-sized legal departments
Just because you cannot hire a dedicated legal operations function does not mean that you cannot benefit from the legal operations movement. With the right technology, even small legal departments can change and innovate, to shift from “Legal as a cost center” to the new expectation of “Legal as a value driver”. Technology can support GCs in the biggest challenges they faces on a daily basis:
- Driving efficiency: To “do more with less” – to streamline work and improve productivity.
- Creating value: To leverage the right resources for the right work at the right price. Creating value is all about being an efficient project manager with a clear impact on the bottom line.
- Generating insights: To access business intelligence that will inform data-driven decisions to inform strategies to protect and grow the business. With insights, the GC can elevate the position of Legal and rise to the expectations of the CEO and the Board.
Even small legal departments can maximise their legal operations and provide more value, when they are supported by the right technology. But with some many solutions on the market today, selecting the right solution can be an onerous job. To assist you in taking action, download our free Legal Operations white paper that provides an overview of the main types of technology so that you can benchmark your needs and identify the type of tools you need to operate more strategically.