While many legal ops professionals speak about the great relationships they have with their in-house teams, the data shows otherwise. For in-house settings, legal teams should cultivate strong internal and external connections to boost efficiency and align with company objectives, while leading with authority to connect business and legal units. This session offers insights and strategies to strengthen internal relationships and successful external partnerships. Our panelists will cover: Forming strategic partnerships with external stakeholders involves negotiating contracts, ensuring effective communication, building mutually beneficial partnerships for business success, managing legal op reporting structures, addressing feelings of disconnection in the role, learning how to create relationships and partnerships while building trust, leading with authority, managing outside counsel spend, billing guidelines, and more.