Augmented Lawyers Club, episode #2
On February 5, the 2nd round table was held around automation issues. On this occasion, we organized a study around the expectations and needs of a #legal department. Each week we will share with you a key figure which allows us to better understand where the Legal Directors are, what their expectations are, what projects have been initiated, for what purposes and for what result.
Management to better guide performance
💡Second indicator and new surprise! The Legal Directors interviewed asked for management indicators for better control of their activities. Today they have few or no tools that can meet this requirement. As a result, they do not have an overview that is precise and reliable. It is therefore difficult for them not only to measure the performance of their teams and more generally of the entire legal department. Therefore, and very logically, the Legal Directors are unable to provide reliable information to General Management or to other operational departments. However, being able to communicate with other entities in the company is one of the major challenges of a modern legal department and one that must establish itself as an active partner.
Seize new opportunities
👉This is therefore the opportunity to seize an important issue in a process of modernization and digital transformation. Legal directors and their lawyers now have several solutions at their disposal to manage their activities, by branch, by office, by hierarchical stratum.
The solutions for contract automation, EDM, collaborative platforms, digitalization of AGs and boards, legal research, beyond the services inherently offered, provide dashboards that are as precise as they are intuitive, delivering information qualified information in real time.
The announced end of Excel tables? Ultimately yes, without a doubt. First of all because they are time-consuming and boring to create. Collecting the right information, compiling it, formatting it and distributing it takes considerable time. It is common to see that employees spend several days there with results that are often imprecise and incomplete. In addition, you have to get back to work every month. It's as demotivating as it is exhausting.
New generation dashboards automate this manufacturing process. Legal directors and lawyers, as well as CFOs and General Management, have reliable and up-to-date information in real time. The most advanced dashboards allow you to create your own indicators. It is thus possible to create personalized reports, specific to certain services and specific needs. One more thing? Tools like Jarvis allow you to schedule the sending of reports in PDF format to your email box on a regular basis. This is a sure way to never miss important information.
Give a new dimension to the Legal Department
It is therefore also a way to better promote know-how by teaching other departments through clear graphics that are understandable to all. The Legal Department can thus establish itself as a business partner and overcome the image of the “speed bump” that has stuck with it for too long.
The Legal Department is increasingly integrated into operational processes. Moreover, the workload expected in 2020 for in-house lawyers is expected to increase by 85% (source: Gartner). A challenge that is impossible to take on without clear management that makes it possible to monitor and act on everyone's work.
It is therefore a challenge that Legal Departments must quickly take up to ensure a constant level of quality despite a constantly increasing workload. But it is also an opportunity for them to promote their daily work, to demonstrate the role they play alongside financial and commercial departments, for example.
Next week, we will see if the Legal Departments have decided to act on the issues of digital transformation or if they have decided to wait
