eBook

What is "Legal Ops" and Why Do You Need It?

Legal Operations, also known as "Legal Ops", is a term that every corporate legal team needs to get familiar with. It may hold the key to the ongoing success of your department. In this eBook, we'll lay out what "Legal Ops" really means, why your legal team needs to invest in Legal Ops tools and staff right now, and how to hire your first Legal Ops team members.

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What is "Legal Ops" and Why Do you Need It?
What is Legal Ops? Legal Operations, also known as "Legal Ops" is a term that every corporate legal team needs to get familiar with, because it may hold the key to the ongoing success of your department. In this eBook, we'll lay out what "Legals Ops" really means, why your legal team needs to invest in Legal Ops tools and staff right now, and how to hire your first Legal Ops team members (because they probably aren't on your payroll yet). Defining Legal Operations For In-house Law Departments Legal Operations is a term that applies to in-house corporate legal teams rather than traditional legal firms because put simply, Legal Ops is the in-house equivalent of the Managing Partners and staff that run private firms. Most legal departments haven't had their own Legal Ops team because they relied on the operations staff of their parent organization to do some of what Legal Ops is expected to do. (Private firms, as standalone businesses, don't have that luxury.) Put another way, Legal Ops does all the work that doesn't require a legal degree, but is necessary for a legal department to do its job well both now and in the future. They are the staff that let lawyers focus on legal work, rather than operational work (much like DevOps helps software developers focus on writing production code, rather than maintaining their software environment). Now, Legal Ops isn't going to run a shadow human resources team or a dedicated facilities management staff, but there are three areas of operational focus that require specialty Legal Ops talent that "generic" operations teams can't provide. They are: • Legal data analytics, to help quantify the output and capacity of your legal department • Legal team financial management, to measure and demonstrate the revenue impact of your legal team (rather than just treating them as overhead) • Legal team strategic planning, to anticipate the needs of the legal team and lay the groundwork for future staff, technology, and related needs With the help of Legal Ops, your in-house legal team will not only be more efficient, but it will also be able to contribute more effectively (and more visibly) to the overall success of your entire organization. With Legal Ops, your legal team will be more than just a "contract factory." The legal department can drive revenue and become a strategic asset to the overall business.
Why Invest in Legal Ops Now? There has never been a better time to stand up for a Legal Ops team in your law department. First, there are finally robust software solutions developed specifically for in-house legal teams. These tools are designed to increase the efficiency of your legal team, rather than simply to track billable hours. And, the most advanced versions of these new Legal Ops solutions offer dashboards and report generation tools that provide the data that Legal Ops staffers need to be most effective. Second, Legal Operations is now mature enough to have defined roles for Legal Ops team members, as well as industry standards developed by groups like the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC). We're past the stage of organizations asking why they need Legal Ops and have moved to companies needing to justify the absence of at least one Legal Operations professional in their law departments. But, above all, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a historically high demand on all areas of the business to be more efficient, modern, and data-driven -- including (notoriously slow-to-change) corporate legal teams. Now is the time to invest in efficiency and resiliency, and Legal Ops is how corporate legal teams will get there. And, with specialized tools and talent, your Legal Ops team can help tee up revenue opportunities -- and minimize legal liability -- for every other department in your organization. How Do You Build a Legal Ops Team? There are three main types of Legal Operations team members: Legal Ops manager, Legal Ops analyst, and Legal Ops specialist. The Legal Ops manager is analogous to a "traffic manager" at a creative agency. Their job is to make sure that all legal projects are tracked from start to finish, and help remove any non-legal obstacles to their completion. If you only hire one Legal Ops staffer, this is the one you can't live without. (And if you only buy one Legal Ops tool, it should be a master dashboard that shows the status of every in-process agreement and contract, so the manager can most effectively do their job.) The Legal Ops analyst manages the reporting functions of Legal Operations, keeping track of productivity, monitoring trends, and identifying areas where processes bog down and need improvement. If you're going to invest in good Legal Ops reporting tools, you need to staff those tools with a dedicated team member who can get the most out of them. The Legal Ops specialist works on just one key area of your Legal Operations workflow. If you need to coordinate renewing contracts with your customer success or sales teams, for example, a specialist can develop the data extracts needed to make that happen. When your Legal Ops team gets big enough, you'll need specialists to keep it running smoothly and delivering maximum value.
Conclusion: It's Time to Build Your Legal Ops Department There's no better time than now to stand up a Legal Operations team for your corporate legal department. Best practices and best-of-breed software tools are available to guide you on this journey and ensure your Legal Ops squad offers the best possible return on investment. But, above all, by holding your legal department to the same data-driven management standards of every other department, you can stand on equal footing with every other area of the business. LinkSquares Can Help LinkSquares offers a Legal Operations Dashboard that shows the status of every legal agreement in your contract repository. From drafts to redlines to executed agreements, you can know where every contract is, who is responsible for moving it to execution, and how long before the agreement is ready to impact revenue. Beyond a status dashboard, LinkSquares also offers a customizable Legal Ops reporting suite, letting you convert unstructured legal documents into actionable, structured reports and insights. If you want to become a true partner to the larger organization, you need to arm your legal team with the data -- and data-driven efficiency -- that can earn them a seat at the management table. If you're ready to adopt the most effective Legal Ops dashboard available -- and harness cutting-edge artificial intelligence to improve every aspect of your legal department -- then contact LinkSquares today.