法律操作系统：改变游戏规则的创新

Belt-tightening in corporate law departments impactslaw firms, of course, because around three-fifths ofin-house legal budgets, on average, are spent onexternal counsel. In law departments where controllingcosts was the primary objective, a recent survey byThomson Reuters found, 89% intended to spend less For lawyers in corporate legal departments and private practice, the pressure to work moreefficiently, communicate and collaborate more effectively, and deliver greater strategic value The coronavirus pandemic, for example, has exacerbated the challenge. Before COVID struck, corporate lawdepartments’ top priorities were greater efficiency and effectiveness. During the pandemic, however, data from theThomson Reuters® 2021 State of Corporate Law Departments (SCLD) report, highlighted that their workloads surgedand budgets shrank, making operational improvements more challenging to achieve (even while increasing their Operational efficiency is paramount In this do-more-with-less environment, operational efficiency is essential for law departments — and also for the lawfirms striving to stay competitive on price and retain work. For in-house legal leaders, three of the top four prioritiesare controlling outside counsel costs, using technology to simplify workflow and processes, and focusing on legal The pandemic intensified these needs while impacting workloads for corporate law departments and their outsidecounsel in different ways. Much of the increased demand for legal services within companies “involved novel issues thathad to be handled by in-house counsel themselves as it required an in-depth knowledge of their businessesand a very quick turnaround,” said the 2021 Report on the State of the Legal Market from Georgetown Law and the Law firms adapt In response, law firms stopped or significantly reduced discretionary spending and cut lawyer headcount for the firsttime in over a decade. According to data from the Thomson Reuters State of the UK Legal Market 2021 report, lawdepartments pushed hard for more competitive pricing from law firms. In 2020, despite the downturn in demand, mostfirms increased their rates and — by cutting costs and increasing leverage — their profits. In the U.S., 60% of law firms While law firms struggled to compete, corporate legal teams struggled to keep up. Their workloads increasednearly 60%— but only one in 17 departments received bigger budgets to tackle the work. “The proportion of corporate legal departments that cited what they considered to beexpensive, uncompetitive, or insensitive pricing increased by more than 50%,” according tothe Thomson Reuters 2021 State of the UK Legal Market study. “This [sentiment] became Complicating these operational challenges, the pandemic forced in-house legal teams and law firms to work remotely.This increased operational complexity, the need for new processes, and reliance on technology to enable collaboration Law departments focus on legal operations Senior in-house leaders are clearly taking steps to invest in operational efficiency. In 2021, 4 out of 5 corporate lawdepartments had dedicated legal operations functions, up from 56% in 2017. Additionally, about 80% of new hiresin 2020 were for legal ops roles, according to the Thomson Reuters SCLD report. “Legal operations specialistsare increasingly seen as the driving force behind [the success of corporate legal teams,] often ensuring that legal Further, the expanded use of legal operations professionals is no longer happening only at large corporations;it’s increasingly occurring at smaller companies, too. “The continuing expansion of this trend is almost certain toresult in more detailed oversight of the work of outside counsel, as well as better internal coordination of the work Technology maintains strategic importance Technology spend is another sign that law firms and corporate legal departments are committed to improving theiroperational efficiency. In a recent survey from Acritas, 84% of law firm partners said they expect their firms to increaseinvestments in technology. On the corporate side, 30% of law departments say they are increasing their spend on The top five most important legal technologies cited by corporate law departments are: •E-billing, spend, and matter management software •Contract management solutions •Legal research •Document management •Legal hold software “This increased optimism among clients doesnot reduce their cost sensitivity, and clientssee a continued need to drive efficiency withthe money they are spending,” the reportstates. “In fact, when asked about the biggest And the top five technologies that law departments said they don’t currently have want to procure are: •Document management •Legal business intelligence •Contract AI for analysis, risk assessment, or due diligence •Contract management •Legal workflow automation A shared fate and a new paradigm Clearly, law firms and their corporate law department clients have a