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Law operations, legal operations, law department, legal department, in-house counsel, outside counsel, and many other things go hand-in-hand in the practice of law and the delivery of legal services between...
Law operations, legal operations, law department, legal department, in-house counsel, outside counsel, and many other things go hand-in-hand in the practice of law and the delivery of legal services between corporate legal departments and law firms.
Inside companies, a team of lawyers manages all the legal issues affecting the enterprise. These teams can consist of several lawyers often complemented by paralegals. The type of law they practice frequently coincides with the company’s industry; however, other legal issues usually arise in human resources, employee discrimination, intellectual property, and other business-related areas.
At the core of the legal team is the legal operations team. Legal ops professionals manage the business aspects of the legal department. They complement the legal team and adopt business practices that prevent lawyers from managing the day-to-day minutia required to run a successful legal operation.
We can agree that technology plays a role in any company, whether law firm or law department. As part of their responsibility, legal operations professionals seek the best enterprise legal management solution to anchor the law department. This software provides a unified legal workspace for both legal ops and the legal team to collaborate, streamline workflow, be more productive, and improve performance.
Matter management is the anchor of enterprise legal management solutions in the legal department. When issues in a company turn into matters, the legal team needs to set up the matter in a robust software solution. Aspects of the matter can be managed with all of the advanced features of the enterprise legal management platform. These include vendor management, financial and e-billing tools, contract lifecycle management, and analytics and reporting, among other things.
A benefit of enterprise legal management software is that outside counsel can use the same software to collaborate with in-house counsel on matters and invoicing. Law operations professionals align with the guidelines set forth by the legal operations professional on the client side so that all lawyers and timekeepers are informed about law practice and how to bill time against a matter.
On the flip side of legal operations is law operations in law firms. Similar to how the legal operations role functions within the enterprise, the law operations function manages strategic planning, budgeting, projects, and technology for the lawyers in a firm.
Law operations professionals in law firms function similarly to legal operations professionals in a company. Each is accountable for developing a streamlined methodology for lawyers to continuously practice law without operational interruption. They seek to refine workflow, implement proper billing practices that align with clients, find and incorporate technology applications that benefit productivity, and work with IT teams to train users while developing analytical reporting to leadership. Both law operations and legal operations professionals, in this case, we reference those who sit in law firms and organizations, respectively, are charged with strategic planning, a critical component of overall success and optimization.
Many mid-size and large law firms have dedicated law operations teams. This enables lawyers to concentrate on the practice of law while law operations professionals focus on knowledge management, technology, pricing strategies, talent recruitment, project management, and other roles as designated by law firm leadership.
Law firms with law operations teams typically cross-collaborate with legal operations professionals at client organizations. Those who have this symbiotic relationship can mutually strengthen their interaction to benefit client service and long-term relationship building.
Likely, especially with a law firm's institutional clients, law operations and legal operations may coordinate on issues like:
• Setting pricing models and alternative fee arrangements• Implementing technology and knowledge management systems • Defining service delivery processes and project management• Analyzing data and metrics to identify areas for improvement
Law operations play a crucial role in how law firms plan, manage and execute the delivery of legal services to clients. Some key ways law operations assist include:
• Developing efficient processes and playbooks for legal work• Implementing tools and technology to streamline service delivery• Analyzing scope, pricing and staffing for client engagements • Providing project management and oversight• Capturing and leveraging know-how and data insights• Continuously improving the client experience and value provided
By focusing on operational excellence, law operations enhance how legal advisory services are packaged and rendered to clients. Regardless of how law operations or legal operations function, each has a similar objective – to optimize the business of law. Contact us to learn more about how technology influences the law operations function.