Legal departments are under more pressure than ever before and are constantly fighting fires on a number of fronts. Regulatory and legislative changes, political instability, changing market needs, and growing competition all contribute to a growing deal of complexity for legal departments. And with it, the need to interface with a growing number of stakeholders across the business who demand quick answers immediately.
To deal with these pressures, many legal departments are working harder and increasing resources. With growing workloads, increasing resources might seem like a viable solution. For many legal teams with budget constraints, this can be out of the question - creating a compelling reason to find alternative ways to work smarter by transforming operations.
So how can Legal address these demands and rise to business expectations? One answer is to facilitate better collaboration with colleagues across the business - from Sales, Finance, Purchasing, Human Resources, and beyond – freeing up more time to focus on strategic tasks. According to the 2022 “Legal departments on the move” Report by ECLA and Wolters Kluwer, a collaboration between legal and business was recognised among the urgent necessities to upgrade by over half of the legal departments surveyed.
Boosting interdepartmental collaboration remains a challenge though, especially in organisations where Legal processes are not standardised or automated. When processes are unclear, colleagues across the business may have the perception that the legal department is a barrier to the business, but it also plays on the morale of legal teams. As per a Gartner study*, 90% of legal staff reported feeling that they slow other functions down when they execute their tasks slowly – a clear sign that inefficient processes hinder the ability to provide value.
*www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-speed-up-legal-reviews
