Extract from Sean Fitzpatrick’s article “Rethinking Legal Department Efficiency: Strategies for Optimization and Cost Savings“
Today, corporate legal departments are operating in an environment of rising expectations and expanded responsibility, but with finite resources. Gone are the days when in-house counsel could focus primarily on corporate transactions and mitigating legal risk while pushing other tasks to outside counsel. Legal leaders are now increasingly tasked with contributing proactively to strategic decisions and business growth, all while demonstrating efficiency and astute stewardship over legal spend. The challenge in-house counsel are contending with is how legal departments can transcend traditional models to deliver greater value, improve productivity, and drive sustainable cost savings at the same time.
Shifting the Administrative Burden
A persistent challenge for many legal departments is the sheer volume of low-value, repetitive work that consumes hours better spent on nuanced and consequential legal issues. For example, a 2023 study by The Law Society found that junior lawyers often feel less fulfilled because their work had little to no impact on their employer or community.
Another survey from Axiom in 2024 indicated that 34% of in-house attorneys spend too much time on administrative tasks, and 44% felt low job satisfaction from conducting repetitive tasks or legal matters instead of working on more complex or sophisticated matters.
