Insights from the Apperio roundtable session at The Lawyer In-House Counsel as a Business Partner event 28-29th November 2019

1. Fixing the plane whilst flying it – building
out processes whilst doing the day job
Insights from the Apperio roundtable session at
The Lawyer In-House Counsel as a Business Partner event
28-29th November 2019
RUN YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT LIKE A BUSINESS

2. A recent report produced by Deloitte (2017) stated that “corporate legal departments are
increasingly being asked to reduce costs and operate more efficiently than ever before.
The notion that an in-house legal team should function like an internal law firm is giving way to
a vision of the legal department that’s a commercial function - a function that drives economic
value for the business. Rigid silos are being replaced by more fluid structures. In-house lawyers
are becoming business partners, embedded and able to work across units and specialisations.”
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/finance/us-advisory-legal-department-of-the-future.pdf
2019 | Apperio Ltd

3. Just as you would run regular
maintenance checks on a plane to
ensure it runs efficiently and reliably, it
is equally important to ensure your legal
department is optimised and is keeping
up with the latest technology to be most
effective.
Over two roundtable sessions, 30
General Counsel shared experiences in
transforming their teams to deliver the
best value within their company, whilst
facing a number of internal and external
challenges.
Here are the key insights.
2019 | Apperio Ltd

4. What does the plane look like today?
The daily challenges of in-house life.
2019 | Apperio Ltd

5. Due to the evolving nature of business, in-house legal departments are facing a range
of new challenges. These include:
Higher expectations from other departments to work in a more agile way
Pressure to justify headcount and external legal spend, whilst battling legacy systems like Excel
Adjusting to cultural shifts such as remote working; including the need to align teams in multiple geographies,
who may be using different tools, reports and processes
Mounting need to develop new processes using technology, but not sure where to start
The emergence of a legal operations function, with the aim to develop and implement processes and support
transformation projects
Increasing requirement to present legal spend to the CFO and to monitor legal matters and spend more
effectively
2019 | Apperio Ltd

6. We have a team of company secretaries
and lawyers, who are focusing on how
we shape our future. We focus on four
work streams: processes, technology,
people and third-party relationships.
“
“
Roundtable participant
We are currently moving structures and aligning
different regions, so all the in-house lawyers are
reporting to one centralised legal department.
This means we are now globally centralised, with
regular global team meetings strengthening these
systems.
“
“
Roundtable participant
I work closely with other
business departments
including procurement
to find out what they
require, what our
supplier spend is. This
helps manage resources
more effectively.
“
“
Roundtable participant
What are GCs saying?
2019 | Apperio Ltd

7. Legal is very much
seen to be on the
periphery, but
having a seat on the
board allows me to
demonstrate and
justify legal spend. If
I didn’t have a seat
at the table, I would
just be perceived as
a cost centre.
“
“
Roundtable participant
Our legal department helps other teams transform
but struggles with their own department, as
processes are lengthy to implement.
“ “
Roundtable participant
There is a tension between understanding
what the business needs and what the legal
department can do. Right now we are agile,
there are only three of us, but this will not
always be the case.
“
“
Roundtable participant
What are GCs saying?
2019 | Apperio Ltd

8. What would GCs like the plane
to look like?
The ideal in-house department set up.
2019 | Apperio Ltd

9. Automated, centralised
systems that can track
matter and spend data and
align teams across different
regions
Technology that is easy to
implement, meets both
the legal and finance
teams’ requirements and
allows them to monitor
performance
Data that can be used
to support and justify
decision making within the
department
Data that can be used to
support strategic business
objectives
Some firms have built-in time management systems, which can be exported to Excel spreadsheets. However, as
lawyers, data interpretation isn’t a skill set we possess and there needs to be guidance on how to utilise that data.
“ “
Roundtable participant
Improved utilisation of data
2019 | Apperio Ltd

10. Mapping tools that provide
insight into where instructions
are coming from
Strategy that advises internal
business departments on how to
produce instructions and identify
the tasks that are priority for the
in-house team
Matter management systems
that measure value and show
how the legal department
contributes to the wider
business
70% of legal spend comes from internal teams, it is not controlled by the legal team. We need to centralise this,
and to do so, put together our data points, as we have enormous legal spend at the moment.
“ “
Roundtable participant
Improved matter inception and management
2019 | Apperio Ltd

11. KPIs not only on legal spend
for legal departments, but also
other teams who use legal
services, such as HR
Quantitative and qualitative
metrics which can be used by
legal and finance departments
to understand the data
Having real-time data available
to compare the performance of
different suppliers and feedback
The tools we are currently given to track legal spend don’t actually fit in with what we are doing in the department.
We are unable to answer the questions finance are asking us.
“ “
Roundtable participant
Improved performance evaluation processes
2019 | Apperio Ltd

12. How do I start fixing the plane?
Quick in-house process wins.
2019 | Apperio Ltd

13. Track your external legal spend
and store the documentation on
a platform that can be accessed
by all relevant parties across the
business
Use insights from data reports
to discuss services provided by
your legal panels, to improve
the services offered
Work with finance to interpret
datasets and build confidence in
legal reporting
Improving the utilisation of data
2019 | Apperio Ltd

14. Use retainers to manage simpler
matters. This allows the legal
team to focus and assess more
complex issues
Strengthen relationships
between legal and other in-
house teams, through face
to face communication. This
improves the quality and clarity
of the matters received
Put together a guidance
document for internal teams on
how to instruct on legal matters
Improving matter inception and management
2019 | Apperio Ltd

15. Have regular meetings with your
external counsel. These allow
you to gain clarity on the figures
your panel is providing
Provide real-time feedback
to your panel, including post-
project briefs
Use metrics to measure
performance in-house and
externally. These could be based
on criteria such as strategic
thinking or delivering P&L
Improving the performance evaluation process
2019 | Apperio Ltd

16. We hope you find the tips and insight in this presentation helpful!
To get more tips on how to future-proof your legal department, why not complete our
legal health assessment
Or contact us on info@apperio.com
RUN YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT LIKE A BUSINESS