Legal Operations: Creating In-House Efficiencies using Technology Modernization

Legal departments of all sizes are turning to legal operations professionals to support the expansion of capabilities and infrastructure optimization as the needs of in-house counsel grow. In-house legal spend increased 13% from 2018 to 2020* and 61% of legal departments now employ at least one legal operations professional, a 39.4% increase since 2015.

With the increased investment in and emphasis on legal operations comes added responsibility and expectations to deliver on the promise of creating greater efficiency in corporate legal. In this session, we discuss practical steps for those assuming new legal operations roles or increased responsibility to develop efficiencies by focusing on technology modernization as a critical lever in delivering value in 2021. For in-house counsel, we discuss how best to actively engage in the modernization effort to help shape the future of the department and become true strategic partners in the business.

Areas of focus for this discussion include:

• Identifying and assessing existing business processes and technology infrastructure
• Legal operations and in-house counsel alignment on future state roadmaps, dependencies, and budget
• Developing key metrics and ROI
• Selecting and deploying technologies and supporting processes

Speakers:

Deana Uhl, Managing Director, FTI Consulting

MaryBeth Blair, Legal Operations Director, UNFI