Wolters Kluwer releases major research paper on Law Department Innovation

Global News

24
Jan
2018

Editor

For legal department leaders, the ongoing transition from being viewed by the board as “legal advisor” to  becoming their “strategic business partner”, offers significant opportunities and rewards. That’s according to a major new white paper from Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions, titled “The Call for Innovation in the Law Department.”

Legal operations professionals now play a critical role in shaping in-house practice and are increasingly charged with driving significant efficiencies, controlling costs and scoping out the best way to perform legal services in alignment with the priorities and goals of the company and the business units they serve, the research paper notes.

Corporate law departments are therefore building new strategies to move from the long-standing concept of “legal as a cost driver” to a new reality of “legal as a value driver” for their businesses. Fortunately, many legal departments have access to an array of tools, technologies, data and other resources to help them operate more strategically. The white paper, which is available on the ELM Solutions website, highlights how innovative law departments are heeding the calls to better manage costs and transform their operations to deliver exceptional performance.

“Legal departments are undertaking efforts to improve productivity and operational efficiencies across their teams. Leaders are charged with doing more with less and identifying and deploying new technologies and process changes to better manage internal resources and outside counsel to drive innovation in how legal work is performed and delivered,” Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions notes. “Efficiency is cited by law departments as a top focus area for cost control and an obvious starting point because of the financial benefits inherent in streamlining workflows and saving time. As legal departments continue to push for more cost-effective solutions, standardized processes and right-sourcing of work to achieve their goals, they are also rethinking legal service delivery with a more holistic strategy.”

Most promising, however, is the opportunity to work strategically to provide better service for internal clients and better demonstrate value to the organization; fewer operational activities for attorneys allow more time to focus on legal work. The white paper notes a number of ways in which legal departments are driving efficiencies, including: 

• Enforcing best practices via business process management tools, such as automated workflows and submission and tracking of service requests
• Optimizing in-house staff use by outsourcing certain legal work, such as bill review and e-discovery
• Leveraging detailed metrics that aid in decision-making and highlight opportunities for improvement
• Comparing outside counsel rates and performance against industry benchmarks for efficient counsel

Wolters Kluwer notes that one effective tool is the e-billing component of a legal department’s enterprise

legal management system, which routes invoices properly and automates the approval process. This tool also includes rules-based automated components that check and validate invoices, catch billing errors and identify and reject noncompliant rates, fees and other billing-related items.

“For some organizations, it may be even more efficient to engage an external bill review service, especially if the provider utilizes advanced technology, such as a machine  learning, along with human expert review in its process to ensure identification of all  the potential noncompliant activities,” the white paper adds.

The research paper also notes how many legal departments are rethinking legal service delivery to determine better ways to manage costs, achieve their goals and, most importantly, demonstrate value. “Rather than simply relying on outside counsel, they are deciding whether to do the work in-house, use outside counsel or try alternative service providers (ASPs) based on the kinds of work that need to be performed, expertise needed, level of resources required and staffing,” Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions argue. “Put simply, these legal departments are matching the right resources with the right work at the right time and for the right price – all with an eye to maximizing value. Tools and data are used to drive these kinds of strategic sourcing decisions. For example, benchmarking data is commonly being used for more effective negotiation of rates to ensure good value from outside counsel. Metrics and scorecards that track internal and outside counsel performance can also drive decisions about staffing levels, firm and attorney selection – and frequently the data leads the department to outsource or bring work in-house.”

In the call for value, Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions notes how many legal departments have come to expect the following practices from their outside counsel:

• Financial management. The most proactive law firms initiate discussions about pricing and budgets, develop realistic matter budgets, manage them well and communicate any required budget edits in advance to clients to ensure transparency and predictability. In addition, well-planned timekeeper rate management provides a means to effectively control rates and have visibility on potential rises.
• Project management. The use of legal project management (LPM) methodologies can improve service delivery and facilitate good planning, communication and collaboration between teams. Firms that leverage an LPM approach can show how they use best practices for effective matter scoping, budgeting, communication, clarity in monitoring progress, and overall management of matters.
• Staffing models. Modern legal service delivery models require a consultative approaches to manage legal work through alternative staffing strategies. Law firms that proactively suggest alternative service providers as a way to fill client demand for more cost-effective service will be valued.
• Business alignment. Firms need to demonstrate solid knowledge and understanding of a client’s business and have alignment with the organization’s core values.

“With the continued focus on cost control along with a number of other key priorities that align with company objectives, legal operations professionals are in a unique position to deliver programs, technology and initiatives that can drive transformative change in how their departments operate and create strategic value for their organizations,” the white paper adds.

ELM Solutions’ Passport® Office Companion earned a Silver Stevie Award for New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Integration Solution in the 2017 American Business Awards competition. Corporate Vision magazine also recognized Passport as its Best Enterprise Legal Management Platform for the second year in a row last year.