Introducing a New Resource for the Europe In-House Legal Community

Onit is excited to announce that it has extended its Lean into LegalOps virtual learning program to the Europe in-house legal community. Members of Lean into LegalOps Europe will have access to exclusive Europe-focused educational materials. They will also receive invitations to virtual legal operations discussions featuring Onit customers and partners and be included in a bi-weekly, peer-to-peer discussion group for European members only.

We sat down with Robert Johnson, managing director of Onit’s London office, to talk to him about the program and the state of legal operations in Europe.

Q:  What are some of the challenges that the Europe in-house legal community face?

A: In-house counsel in Europe encounter legal operations challenges that drastically differ from their U.S. colleagues. First, compliance with data and privacy laws is exceptionally complicated and varies by country. You also have EU-wide laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that corporations must address. If a corporation does not meet these compliance levels, they may face steep fines or government investigations.

Second, in the last five to 10 years, large organisations in Europe have been growing rapidly and often by acquisition. As a result, they may have multiple duplicative systems in legal as well as other departments like accounting or HR. They’re shifting their focus from “how to get by” to best practices and overcoming the challenges of, for example, 10 different systems that come with worries about integrations, silos, and more.

Q: What’s important when it comes to EU legal operations management?

A: Since Europe is not as litigious as the U.S., European companies generally don’t place a high priority on cost savings for legal operations as the U.S. does. Instead, the focus is on leveraging and understanding data and creating efficiencies to reduce the time spent on lower-value work. Legal departments are also bringing in new types of job roles, such as analytic specialists who can code and work with large data sets.

Q: How does Lean into LegalOps support the Europe in-house legal community?

A: Lean into LegalOps taps into the ingenuity shown by legal professionals in Europe. People are always intrigued by what other people are accomplishing. The program allows them to connect, share stories and best practices, and demonstrate how they’ve used Onit technology to address formidable challenges. The educational resources will vary from informal Q&As, customer demos of how they’ve used Onit technology like Apptitude or contract lifecycle management, and examples of working across departments such as HR, marketing, and more to efficiently address business functions and build transparency.

About Lean into LegalOps Europe

Onit began the virtual learning and networking program in response to the global pandemic.

This online learning initiative highlights programming from the Onit and SimpleLegal customer base, industry thought leaders, and innovators in the space. The masterclasses cover topics such as how to use workflow tools to manage a distributed workforce, how to implement technology strategies that deliver immediate cost savings and ROI, and how to quantify and defend the value in the legal department. There is no cost to join. If interested, please sign up here.