Page 25 - CCCA 270450 Magazine_Fall 2017_for web

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we are living in an age when consumers de-
mand “better, faster, cheaper.” this takes
some adjustment for providers—especially
if they are lawyers. after all, law school
awyers are about prec- higher if corporate legal opera-
edent—stare decisis—not taught them to be risk averse, correct and tions (“legal ops”) work and ser-
Linnovation. They are exhaustive in creating the best product vices were included.
trained to identify issues (read: Legal delivery is morph-
problems), not create solutions. possible—no matter its value to outcome. ing from labour-intensive legal
And they have historically played practice delivered exclusively by
the role of client defender, not business partner. Their law lawyers/law frms to a tech- and process-enabled model that
school training was reinforced upon entry to practice. That combines legal, technological, and process and project man-
was legal culture. agement expertise.
But it’s changing thanks to consumers. Legal consumers and Law is not simply about lawyers anymore. Technologists, pro-
a handful of managed legal service providers have separated le- cess experts, and other service professionals and paraprofession-
gal practice—core tasks that require differentiated legal exper- als, assisted by technology, leverage legal expertise. Law is track-
tise and skills—from the delivery of legal services—the business ing the medical profession’s decades-ago metamorphosis from
of law and the integration of practice and delivery. “medical practice” to the delivery of healthcare services. The
Corporate legal departments have grown in size, impor- business of law is leveraging differentiated legal expertise and
tance, responsibility, compensation and impact on legal deliv- skills the same way that healthcare delivery has leveraged differ-
ery. This has occurred for several reasons, notably the fallout entiated physician skill sets, leaving others to conduct and deliver
from the global fnancial crisis of 2007, globalization and the the “business” of the profession.
growing complexity and regulatory challenges of multinational It is against this rapidly changing backdrop that corpo-
businesses, and breathtaking advances in technology. Legal de- rate counsel are challenged to identify ways to contain spend,
livery—the business of law—has become a three-legged stool mitigate risk, take on ever-increasing responsibility, manage a
supported by legal expertise, technology and process. Most law legal supply chain, defend the enterprise and simultaneously
frms have lagged in technology and process integration, failing advance its business agenda within established risk parameters
to seize the opportunity to get out in front of a changing deliv- and the bounds of the law, and proactively identify—and de-
ery model and a new set of consumer expectations. fuse—problems before they result in legal exposure. This is not
In response to law frm stasis, several in-house departments what they learned at law school or during practice. How do they
and legal service providers have become the standard bearers meet these challenges?
for the delivery of legal services—the business of law. According
to ALM Intelligence’s recent “General Counsel Up-at-Night” re- Unprecedented Challenge—and Opportunity
port, 73% of legal work is performed in-house, 2% outsourced In-house legal departments operate in an environment of un-
to legal providers (non-law frms), and the balance by frms. precedented challenge and opportunity. The challenges are to
Corporate legal departments, once legal buyers, are now also do more with less and keep pace with the rapacious growth,
its principal providers. Law frms have ceded market share to geographical imprint and complexity of the enterprise. They
in-house departments and to tech and process-enabled service also contend with budget pressure even as their portfolios ex-
providers. The 2% service provider share would be substantially pand in size and complexity. But that’s only part of the story.
“ from “medical practice” to the delivery of healthcare services.

Law is tracking the medical profession’s decades-ago metamorphosis
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