With new technologies, new ways of thinking, and the advent of ‘legal operations’, the definition of a modern legal function has come a long way.
And where a few years ago a GC who was implementing technology was regarded as an early adopter, the sector is now considered to be well and truly crossing the technology adoption chasm. In fact, Gartner predicts that almost 50% of legal work related to major corporate transactions will be automated by 2024.
At a time where General Counsel turnover is at an all-time high one thing is clear: if your Legal function isn’t rapidly maturing, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
The question of legal function maturity is far more complex and nuanced than simply whether you’ve adopted technology or not. In light of this, many well-meaning GCs find themselves stuck knowing what factors to consider, which inhibits their ability to construct a strategic transformation roadmap.
To assist, we’ve put together some questions so you can establish where your function sits on the Legal function maturity curve. If you like, you can also complete our two-minute Legal Function Checkup which sends you a customised report highlighting your greatest opportunities for improvement.
When considering your Legal function’s maturity, you should start with this simple question and reflect on how your function is structured.
Are all your lawyers in-house? Or do you outsource certain projects or tasks?
And if you outsource, who are you outsourcing to?
Progressive legal functions understand that the ebbs and flows of the business will cascade down to the work and capacity required from Legal.
If you find you are spending the majority of your project time and budget outsourcing work, consider insourcing short term secondee. By incorporating secondees into an agile Legal team you can manage these ebbs and flows and ensure there are always the right amount of hands on deck at any given time.
Reflect on how easily Legal can respond to both standard legal requests, and also the overall goals of the business.
Do you have limited time to focus on anything except drafting simple contracts? Or is your team actively involved with strategic business objectives?
A mature legal function will have a place and voice in developing and executing the strategic objectives of the business. If this sounds like you, fantastic! You’ve successfully reinforced Legal as more than just a ‘service function’ of the business.
If your department is struggling to find the capacity to add the strategic value you want, perhaps consider utilising contract automation technology to help draft the high-volume but easily template-able contracts in your business.
Allocation of a budget towards optimising your function with technology is a key indicator of not only a progressive Legal function, but also a progressive business.
There aren’t many functions who can perform at their best without the support of tech that streamlines workflows and makes it easier to report their activities.
After all, what is Sales without Salesforce, or Finance without Xero?