Extract from Epiq’s article “Changes in Legal Operations – A Look Back Over the Last Decade”
As the legal landscape evolves at unprecedented speed, the role of legal operations within a business continues to transform. Legal departments are under increasing pressure to serve the business and reduce costs. This looks different for every organization and needs change as priorities shift, outside factors influence business demands, and new technology trends. When the concept of legal operations first emerged, it was broadly defined as finding ways to run legal more like a business. This characterization still rings true today, but as the industry develops so do the roles of legal operations professionals. There are more defined responsibilities that fall under this umbrella and connect legal with the entire enterprise.
The Evolution
Ten years ago, the role of legal operations was akin to a general counsel’s chief of staff. Some even have a legal chief of staff or a hybrid chief of staff/head of legal operations title. For many the role was more administrative encompassing tasks such as billing management, meeting preparation, vendor management, technology planning, policy review, and process improvement. As the role evolved, more professionals also started acting as a liaison between the general counsel and other parts of the business to facilitate better communication and drive decisions.
Over the last decade, professional organizations dedicated to bringing the legal operations community together have grown. The desire to explore innovative approaches for running legal like a business has also deepened. This has sparked change in the industry to make the role of legal operations a more strategic one. The wide the range of business processes and activities that can help legal departments run more efficiently is increasingly apparent. More organizations of all sizes have brought legal operations professionals in-house and created specific roles dedicated to this function or refocused the role away from the administrative side.
