Press Release
FTI Consulting’s Technology Segment Expands Corporate Legal Department Transformation Solutions
Offering Includes Enhanced Legal Operations Assessments, Addressing Critical Pain Points
Washington, D.C., Oct. 19, 2022 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced that the firm’s Technology segment has further expanded its legal department transformation solutions from the Corporate Legal Operations practice. Tackling an enhanced list of top focus areas for corporate legal departments — including business strategy alignment, legal technology adoption, processes and spend management — the team can deliver assessments with actionable roadmaps for program improvement, alongside comprehensive services and technology that support the entirety of legal operations transformation.
The importance of legal operations has grown significantly in recent years, with economic and business drivers placing increasing emphasis on the need for corporate legal departments to streamline processes, reduce operating costs and implement automation. According to a Blickstein Group study, nearly half (44%) of legal departments report that they need to update their core technologies to do this. However, 60% of legal operations professionals said in the same study that business process improvements are their number one challenge.
“Every legal department is unique, from the industry challenges they address to their technology stack and resourcing strategy,” said Meredith Brown, a Senior Managing Director and global Co-Leader of FTI Technology’s Corporate Legal Operations practice. “Our mantra is that we meet our clients where they are, whether they need help in a particular area — such as strategy alignment, staffing, technology, process improvement or measurement — or in a particular phase of their legal transformation journey. For many legal departments, they know they have operational difficulties but don’t know where to start. These challenges often lead to false starts, stalled projects and frustration. To address this, we’ve expanded our assessments offering, so that clients can understand exactly what’s needed to drive improvement.”
FTI Technology’s Corporate Legal Operations practice helps organizations achieve operational efficiencies and measurable results across the legal operations spectrum, using the technology and services that best meet their needs. The expanded list of the practice’s legal operations assessments addresses key areas, including:
- Business Strategy Alignment: Establishing a solid foundation for legal operations begins with comprehensive planning and focuses heavily on aligning stakeholders. Through a data-driven approach, FTI Technology identifies gaps in legal processes to help align and shape strategic roadmaps.
- Resource Optimization: Assessments examine the risk and complexity of the department’s resourcing and recommend opportunities to realign work among in-house teams or cost-effective outside providers.
- Technology: Legal technology transformation requires a deep understanding of the legal department’s current state, anticipated future needs and industry-specific nuances. Equally essential is a holistic vision for the department’s optimal solution ecosystem and an overarching data strategy. When selecting a solution, implementation experience can be invaluable. FTI Technology’s experts have a proven track record of executing on each step of the transformation journey and planning for change before, during and after implementation.
- Process: FTI Technology’s process and system design experts work with clients’ legal operations teams to streamline workflows and maximize existing technology investments to minimize friction between the legal department and its business stakeholders.
- Spend and Vendor Management: By evaluating specific details about the overall legal spend and how outside vendors — including law firms, technology providers, e-discovery providers and trial services — are billing, FTI Technology provides deep insights into legal spend and recommendations for optimizing budgets.
- Operational Analytics and Reporting: As data becomes increasingly important to in-house counsel, FTI Technology helps clients unlock and interpret the information required to enable real-time reporting and dashboards and enable accurate, data-driven decision making.
Wafik Guirgis, a Senior Managing Director and global Co-Leader of FTI Technology’s Corporate Legal Operations practice, added, “Articulating a compelling, data-supported value story is becoming more critical for legal departments, especially in the current economic conditions. Doing this requires the right solutions and operating model, as well as a clear starting point and understanding of how to execute. Having an experienced thought partner to help navigate those waters and advise on best practices can be invaluable in developing the business case for change. Our experts have deep subject-matter expertise in each of the key legal operations disciplines and extensive experience in conducting assessments that drive pragmatic, strategic roadmaps.”
FTI Technology’s experts have a proven track record of helping legal departments align their operations programs with business goals and develop customized solutions that empower in-house teams. The firm’s legal operations advisory, services and technology offerings cover every phase of the legal operations journey from assess and recommend to implement and measure. This comprehensive approach ensures that legal operations professionals can understand and improve their current state, future needs, best practices, technology enablement and performance benchmarks.
About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 7,000 employees located in 30 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $2.78 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2021. In certain jurisdictions, FTI Consulting’s services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalised and independently managed. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting),