They understand that what is measured is managed. And if they are unable to effectively communicate the value that the law provides in a way that the company understands, they will find that their function is under pressure on the budget, with the hope of doing even more. Admittedly, it is difficult to measure some of the impact and importance of legal work because it is subjective. And while an in-house lawyer runs their business as if they were a client, they can`t produce billable hours because the business doesn`t operate that way. With the rapidly changing world of legal technology, it can be difficult to make sure you have the best tools for the job. Considering legal automation – and by extension, its legal automation technology provider – as a strategic partner to help the legal department better serve the business, the best in-house lawyers put their best lawyer on every member of the organization 24 hours a day to handle tedious and routine administration that lawyers prefer to avoid. Why would an organization choose a legal representative instead of hiring a law firm or hiring its own permanent resources? Legal functions are business functions. That`s why key legal functions draw inspiration from IT manuals and apply agile legal project management tactics to increase efficiency and better communicate value. Take a look at how often each “type” of contract is used in your business. Who usually requires it? Who is responsible for the development? And how long does it usually take for the project to reach the final signature? With technological innovation and rapidly evolving thinking around dynamic resources and agile legal teams, General Counsel are prioritizing legal transformation faster than ever. When you compare your transformation plan to the best legal transformation today, you don`t end up stuck in the wrong rabbit hole, with unnecessary technical debt, or don`t foot the bill for unnecessary integrations. It is not enough to be a great lawyer. The recognition and use of specialized in-house legal services is critical to the success of an in-house legal team.

Tip: Use our Legal Automation ROI Calculator to quantify the impact faster legal tasks would have on your business. The Net Promoter Score isn`t a metric you usually think about when it comes to legal, but it becomes increasingly important as the legal department integrates into the business. These lawyers use legal representatives to cope with the growing demand for legal assistance. Filling these capacity gaps without increasing headcount is a dream come true for legal and financial departments, as it helps the legal department manage costs while maintaining in-house legal support. As the saying goes, “time is money” and the longer a contract is waiting to be approved or signed, the more expensive it is for the company. The best corporate lawyers stand out by putting aside these traditions and diving headlong into the world of tools such as legal automation, case management, and contract management software. If their colleagues in finance, HR, and sales use technology, why wouldn`t they? These in-house attorneys use Legal`s automation to streamline Legal`s interaction with the company, from managing support requests and managing contractual workflows to digital execution and secure document storage. For years, industry leaders have speculated about the “major legal transformation takeover” for in-house legal teams. But what does “legal transformation” really mean? When you partner with a leading in-house legal service provider like Plexus Engage, you can find the right lawyer with the right experience and skills to step in and make a difference from day one. Most companies have master contracts that are adapted and used again and again. This is a huge waste of time for all the business departments involved, but especially for the legal department.

Legal is able to pursue important strategic legal work because it knows that the company is able to comply with compliant standardized agreements (e.g. NDAs) itself and receive automatic updates on the location of its contract in the fulfillment workflow. Here are five characteristics that have proven non-negotiable for any legal transformation best practice strategy. Contentious construction work involves the settlement of disputes, while non-contentious work involves drafting and negotiating contracts and advising on projects. Want to know more about legal transformation? Nevertheless, there are ways to measure legal value. As an added bonus, this increased commercial visibility on all legal issues helps ease the legal team`s inbox by reducing the hundreds of emails from the company asking for contract progress. The legal industry has often been guilty of being a laggard in adopting technology, with many lawyers still openly criticizing and actively avoiding legal technology. Set a goal for what success looks like for you.

Does this mean that % of documents are executed through your new contract management platform? Or a reduction in the time it takes to run a document? In this article, we`ll take an in-depth look at legal transformation, including the types of programs that perform legal functions and best practices for developing an effective legal transformation strategy for your business. Over the past decade, in-house legal teams have become increasingly important in companies. Initially, they were staffed with new in-house lawyers whose vision of “legal value” stemmed from their traditional training within the firm. The first rule of legal transformation: it is not only about legal. While full legal transformation is the desired goal of many in-house legal teams, there are many risks associated with a hasty transformation before the function and business are ready for it. Andrew Mellett, CEO of Plexus, outlines the four main factors contributing to the failure of legal transformation and how T&Cs can avoid them. In addition to embracing legal technology, in-house legal teams are reviewing their talent structure. Many legal teams understand that due to the nature of their workload, the need for company-specific legal talent decreases and sinks. As a result, general counsel are taking inspiration from their peers in IT departments and adopting an agile legal team structure.

While their peers may focus on a specific area of law, a typical corporate lawyer oversees every part of their business. This means they can work every day on contract law, competition law, mergers and acquisitions, data protection and everything in between. This is in addition to their other business needs, such as training and educating the company on compliance practices. While this view made sense in a system that measured the value of billable hours and excess maintenance, it did not meet the expectations of the organizations in which these teams were located. In short, the traditional view of legal support has led to Legal being seen by the company as a bottleneck and obstacle to enforcement. As an increasing proportion of lawyers move away from this traditional law firm model, legal teams are looking to their counterparts in other business departments to use the tools and tactics they use to work smarter and more efficiently. Learn how advanced legal functions go beyond the norm and use key tactics to reposition the legal department as a strategic asset and competitive advantage within the organization.