Stronger by Design: Why Legal Operations Matters Now

Drilling down on what's been happening in that in-house environment, legal operations has become a strategic capability for in-house legal teams, particularly over the last 10 years.

What, in your opinion, has driven that shift?

The first and most obvious answer, Sasha,

is

technology.

So much of legal practice now relies on technology.

of all different sorts, from e-discovery technology to document management systems to third-party engagement technology, of course, the place that Locadia is best known, but not exclusively, and then, of course, the emerging world of AI-enabled legal teams.

It is a huge driver of change.

Most organisations tilt their technology efforts towards their customers and their broader operational efficiencies.

So where enterprise systems aren't sufficient or aren't well-tuned for legal requirements, that's where the legal operations team really plays, as well as adapting and configuring enterprise systems to make sure that our very hardworking legal community is able to deliver the strongest possible value at the lowest possible risk level for the benefit of your customers or stakeholders as an organisation.

Once upon a time, in-house lawyers were considered to be the people who got to go home at 5 p.m.

I don't know that's ever been my experience working in-house.

Our lawyers are working as hard as, if not harder in many cases, than private firms and certainly are, and regularly are, working with less resources.

So operations has a perfect role to play in enabling efficiencies, enabling disciplines that allow lawyers to focus on what they should be focused on, which is delivering their expertise for the benefit of their customers and clients.

Technology, absolute number one driver, but by no means exclusively a driver.

Legal service design has come up the curve.

The opportunity to enhance external firm relationships and drive value all the way through the value chain has come up the curve enormously in the last decade.

There is change driven by leadership, by the relationship between operations and leadership, and then by the demand for increased volume of legal practice enabled by technology sessions.