Author: Onit

Legal’s Golden Opportunity to Shine: Report Finds New Potential to Directly Impact Revenue Growth

Posted on June 28, 2022 by - Business Process Management, Digital Transformation

Chapter two of the Enterprise Legal Reputation (ELR) Report unveils new potential for legal departments to directly and positively impact material growth, operational efficiency, and cultural transformation. Here’s how Legal can be a top game-changer for its business.

There are two sides to every story.

Chapter one of the Enterprise Legal Reputation (ELR) Report — a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees — delved into the image of corporate legal teams through the eyes of enterprise employees and revealed a Perception Paradox: Although four in five (78%) employees consider Legal as outstanding protectors of the business who impart good advice, two in three (65%) have knowingly bypassed Legal, at least on occasion.

Chapter two of the ELR Report examines Legal’s perception of its own department by shining a spotlight on the parallels and perspectives of 500 corporate legal professionals from the United States (200 respondents), United Kingdom (100), Germany (100), and France (100). Is Legal aware of its brand image by its constituents? Does the department know what similarities and differences exist between their perceptions and those of its enterprise employees? And ultimately, how can Legal have greater impact on the materiality and growth of its business?

Similar attitude, legal latitude

When it comes to exploring the connection between Legal and its internal clients, nearly three in four (73%) respondents cite positive relationships. These figures are similar to the responses from enterprise employees in chapter one, where three in five (60%) reported harmonious partnerships. Legal believes its collegiality ranks highest with Finance (84%) and HR (79%), and employees reported the best collaboration with these departments as well, although at a slightly lower clip (62%). Further, nine in 10 (91%) corporate legal respondents believe they share exemplary interactions with their internal clients, and almost every corporate Legal respondent (95%) considers their department efficient in managing service requests, a number that wavered only slightly spanning the globe, with 98% in Germany, 96% in the United Kingdom, 95% in the United States, and 91% in France.

Why, then, do three in every four Legal employees feel the strength of their connection with internal clients is solid when less than two in five enterprise employees concur? Despite Legal believing it has “good” or “very good” relationships with IT (78%), Procurement (76%), Sales (74%) and Marketing (73%), the feeling is different from the enterprise employee perspective, sitting at just 38% for IT, 37% for Procurement, 43% for Sales and 37% for Marketing.

While Legal being confident about their relationships is to be commended, these inconsistencies in awareness represent an incongruity and potential obstacle — also known as the Iceberg Effect.

Part of the issue in differing levels of perception could be taking an outside-in view: Since Legal sets the standards for what needs to be accomplished in its department, Legal innately presumes it is accomplishing what needs to be done. And, in fact, many legal teams are doing an extraordinary job. In chapter one, enterprise employees were quick to note how Legal excels at negotiation, procuring vendors and services, and impacting the corporate brand.

Yet what this variance also indicates is the presence of untapped potential. Legal has the capability to be more than a risk mitigator and compliance officer; to do more than review, manage, and sign contracts. This is a chance for Legal to command a place at the table as a transformational change agent and business influencer impacting topline revenue, innovation, competitive differentiation, brand, and corporate culture.

Steering clear of the Iceberg Effect

When it comes to impacting the business where it matters most, Legal is in safe and steady waters supporting Sales and the revenue acquisition process. In fact, nowhere is Legal’s ability to steer the ship clearer than here: More than half (56%) of enterprise employees say Legal kickstarts sales and revenue operations, with 48% citing Legal’s acceleration of deal cycles. Nearly seven in 10 (68%) legal professionals also believe they help Sales effectively close urgent deals, a sentiment that skyrockets to an incredible 84% in Germany.

There can be no revenue recognition until contracts are signed, though, and with two in five legal respondents (40%) spending four to five hours – at least half of every business day – reviewing and managing contracts, Legal expresses a definite need for speed and modernization. Nearly half of respondents (47%) claim their current technology is insufficient. But optimizing with automated tools powered by the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the key to advancing the entire contract process, from document generation and redlining to e-signature and finalization. This acceleration can pilot faster decision-making on how to push contracts through review cycles, renewals, and negotiation, scaling the speed and growth of revenue generation (44%) as well as mergers and acquisitions (23%).

Legal’s role in materially impacting its business

While the crux of a business’ success may be defined by its sales and revenue, Legal holds the power to influence other functions across the enterprise, too. There can be no sales without a valuable product or service, and more than three in five (61%) legal professionals believe they play a prime role in positively impacting their businesses’ abilities to innovate and differentiate competitively by protecting company patents and intellectual property (IP).

Even beyond the scope of innovation and ideas, it is people who make up the atomic units of a business. Corporate culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamental to operational efficiency and growth. Fortunately, four in five (80%) enterprise employees view Legal as a great partner for procuring vendors and services, and more than half of respondents (52%) worldwide report their departments and companies are now prioritizing vendor diversification. Yet another Legal priority is improving data security, with one in three employees (33%) highlighting the importance of cyber risk management.

It is within these forward-thinking sectors – DEI and data privacy — that Legal can uncover its formula for future success and evolve from a transactional, back-office brand into a visible business influencer, vanguard of innovation, and advocate for diversity and inclusivity. By doing so, Legal can pivot the Perception Paradox and melt the Iceberg Effect, connecting more deeply with its internal clients, ramping up material growth and operational excellence, and expanding its image as guardian of the enterprise into an even more significant role as protector.

Read the ELR Report to learn more about how legal professionals view their relationships with internal clients in comparison to the image enterprise employees have of their legal departments.

Guardian of the Enterprise: A Look Into Legal’s No.1 Role as Business Protector

Posted on June 23, 2022 by - Business Process Management, Digital Transformation

The legal department is viewed as an outstanding protector of the business and remarkable advisor. The perception of Legal as a business partner is not quite as stellar. What can Legal do to reconcile these images and come out on top as both?

Bulwark. Safeguard. Defender.

With 77% of enterprise employees around the world rating their legal departments as talented negotiators and almost half (47%) believing Legal positively affects forward-thinking innovation, there are many different perceptions of Legal.

However, the Enterprise Legal Relationship (ELR) Report – a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals spanning the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany – revealed that, far and away, the number-one image that enterprise employees have of Legal is as a protector of the business, its assets, and its people.

Guardian of the enterprise

Legal is responsible for ensuring the compliance of a company’s actions, so it’s no surprise that the department is seen first and foremost as an authority figure both expected and enabled to protect the corporate mission. When one envisions the responsibilities of various functions within an enterprise along a spectrum between protection and promotion, Legal – as opposed to Sales and Marketing – falls soundly on the side of protection. Overall, the perception of Legal around the globe is primarily positive with three out of five respondents (60%) citing good relationships — no doubt due in large part to the protection the department imparts to the enterprise as a whole.

Two separate perceptions

When it comes to Legal, however, there is also a Perception Paradox: While Legal is highly respected as the protector of the business, three out of four enterprise employees (73%) do not consider Legal a good business partner.

How can Legal be lauded as protectors of the business when many of its internal clients don’t see it as a good business partner?

It all comes down to perception. Among enterprise employees, protection and trust appear to be two separate perceptions. In fact, 49% respondents globally describe Legal as “inflexible” and 59% call Legal “inefficient.” Additionally, one in 10 – and as many as one in five in the United States and United Kingdom – voiced concerns that Legal’s abundance of caution as protectors have extended the time to close and win deals, slowing and negatively impacting sales cycles.

That said, this is a cross to bear that shouldn’t entirely rest on the albeit strong shoulders of Legal. If Legal is indeed viewed as and expected to be the protector of the business, but those same employees believe that Legal hinders business from moving forward, it might explain why two out of three respondents (65%) admit to having bypassed the Legal departments and its policies in the past, at least on occasion.  

So then how is Legal supposed to act as the very protectors they are regaled as being?

The future of Legal: protector and partner

 Where Legal shines is in matters ensuring that accountable decisions are made and inherent risk is mitigated: patents, trademarks, and intellectual property (92%) and regional and global-specific matters (89%) top the list. Yet Legal has the potential to evolve its perceptions and become not only the intellectual “head” of an enterprise, but much more of its heart.

Employees want, need, and deserve to feel secure in an organization.  As a true protector, Legal can be empowered to let internal clients know Legal is “with them.” By freeing up time from mundane tasks with state-of-the-art automation, Legal will have an opportunity to contribute more collaborative support to its internal clients, earning greater trust and transforming into a truly valued business partner as well as the protector of the business they always have been.

Assist legal teams in better understanding their brand image by downloading ELR Report Chapter 1.

9 Advantages of a Matter Management Cloud Solution

Posted on June 14, 2022 by - Enterprise Legal Management

In our Matter Management blog series, we have already addressed the fact that in-house counsel are under enormous pressure in today’s demanding business environment to serve their internal clients effectively and professionally while keeping costs low and minimizing potential risks. In this article, Carina Smolik-Fischer, director of product at BusyLamp (an Onit company), summarizes the top 9 benefits of a matter management cloud solution and how it can benefit your legal team.

In-house counsel are challenged to find innovative legal tech solutions for their legal departments that enable them to increase productivity and speed without sacrificing the quality and value of their work. At first, these may appear to be competing goals, but with the help of a matter management solution, you will make the first step towards reconciling these seemingly conflicting goals. With matter management, you have a centralized solution that allows you to create matters, centrally view files easily, and access related documents and emails.

Matter Management from Onit offers all the modules and features modern legal departments need for daily and efficient work. Legal market experts have developed Onit’s Matter Management solution with a strong understanding of the complex requirements of in-house counsel and the regional specifics of the DACH legal market.

And now to the good news: implementing such a matter management software does not have to be complicated. Using cloud software is the fastest way. Furthermore, cloud-based software programs offer you nine key advantages that can significantly benefit your business:

1. General Benefits

Any cloud-based application – including matter management – opens up new ways of collaboration, flexibility, innovation, and mobility. Users can access applications quickly and easily from anywhere via the internet, extend them as needed, and share their data with authorized third parties within seconds. New functions and innovations are immediately available in high quality, thus offering users more agility and flexibility. But that’s not all: cloud technology for matter management provides numerous benefits that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with local on-premise software.

2. Costs

With cloud software, there are no unique investment costs for purchasing and running hardware and operating system software. Also, there is no need for internal know-how about the software application besides the monthly license fee. With Onit, there are only one-time onboarding costs for the software’s individual configuration, including users, authorizations, master data, templates, and more. In addition, there is a short training session to get you started quickly and comprehensively. This allows you to calculate reliably, minimize financial risk and avoid surprises.

3. Direct Availability

Cloud software is always ready. No technical installation is required, so your IT deployment is limited to testing security-related issues. With Onit, for example, you are using software hosted in the EU that complies with the latest security standards, e.g., certifications such as ISO 27001 and ISO 9001.

4. State-of-the-Art Security Standards

There are often concerns that cloud technologies are unsafe and exposed to attacks. However, this is not the case. Our Matter Management solution runs on Microsoft Azure. Large providers like Microsoft are constantly investing in the security of their data centers, using the latest software, and having specialized employees.

5. Automated updates and upgrades

Cloud applications have automated upgrades and updates that keep your matter management solution up to date. This has the advantage of always providing you with innovative features and constantly guaranteeing the security of your software.

6. Collaboration

Cloud software is accessible via the internet – all you need is your normal browser like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. As an end user, you benefit from this, especially with matter management software. For example: once a digital file is created in our Matter Management solution, you can easily share or assign its content, such as documents, emails, appointments, tasks, etc., with authorized third parties (departments such as HR, procurement, or external law firms). Use the platform itself or MS Teams for this purpose – all required contents of the digital file are under your control 24/7. Legal services such as the internal Legal Service Request are also provided via the Internet browser and therefore do not require technical installation. Sharing on the intranet or using an MS Teams APP makes access easier and saves time. It gives you the flexibility to focus on your higher value-added work.

7. Apps and Plug-Ins

Easily extend your matter management software using APPs and plug-ins. These integrate directly into the application, extending your cloud software with just a few clicks. Matter Management offers integrations with MS Office, MS Outlook, and MS Teams so that you can communicate directly within the solution.

8. Data Security

We are very aware of the fact that your legal department manages extremely sensitive data. A loss of data could have serious consequences. As mentioned at the outset, established cloud providers such as Microsoft have significantly more capabilities to provide data in a highly available, stable, and secure manner. Furthermore, data communication between the local computer and the Internet service is always encrypted to prevent access by unauthorized persons and to protect your data using state-of-the-art technologies.

9. Scalability

Cloud software is flexible and dynamically scalable. Onboarding additional users, sites, or departments is possible anytime and immediately without any lead time or spare capacity in your IT department. This also applies to the use of more storage. Cloud-based software allows you to grow according to the unique needs of your legal department.

Summary

Cloud-based matter management provides legal departments with the tools and applications to make their processes more efficient, streamline their legal operations, and efficiently deliver value to their organization. Add value through smart technologies and improve the visibility of your contribution to the company’s success. Use Matter Management to optimize the spending of your costs. Use your valuable time to focus on high-quality legal advice and put aside the time-consuming management of your legal mandates.

Request a demo of BusyLamp eBilling.space.

Join Bodhala and the Onit Family of Companies at Envision Chicago

Posted on June 2, 2022 by - Legal Operations

Bodhala is excited to announce the launch of Envision — a series of exclusive events in collaboration with our parent company Onit.

Starting with the first event June 21st in Chicago, Envision is an opportunity to meet the rest of the Onit family of companies, hear from product experts, and get a front-row seat to the next generation of innovation in legal tech.

Envision events are free to attend. Click here to register and learn more.

Attendees will also have the chance to network with peers in the Chicago area, and learn how they are working with Onit companies to achieve operational efficiency and build stronger connections between Legal and the rest of the business. 

By the end of the event, attendees will have a clear understanding of how to cost-efficiently and cost-effectively execute legal workflows, with help from Onit’s solutions purpose-built for contract lifecycle management, matter management, e-billing, spend management, analytics, and more.

Envision Chicago Details

Date: June 21, 2022

Location: Union League Club of Chicago – 65 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604

Agenda (All times CDT) 

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

  • Lunch & Demos

1:10 – 3:30 PM (Keynotes)

  • Corporate Legal’s Reputation in the Eyes of Internal Clients and Its Opportunity to Materially Impact Enterprise Growth, Topline Revenue, and Bottom Line Efficiency
  • Evolving Expectations About Legal’s Business Impact: New Approaches That Connect Legal to the Enterprise Through Better Partnering and Workflows That Matter
  • The Roadmap That Makes Legal Work Flow Faster and Smarter: The Next Generation of Automated, AI-driven ELM And CLM Solutions

3:30 – 4:05 PM (Roundtables)

  • Session A — Connecting the Enterprise Through Data
  • Session B — Top Challenges Solved by SimpleLegal’s Enhanced Reporting

4:15 – 4:55 PM (Roundtables)

  • Session A —Rightsizing Contract Management
  • Session B — Using Market Intelligence to Improve Business Outcomes

5:00 – 6:30 PM

  • Evening Reception

Click here to register for Envision Chicago.

If you can’t make it to Chicago, you can meet us at a future Envision event later this year!

  • Envision Los Angeles, CA — August 24, 2022
  • Envision London, United Kingdom — September 20, 2022
  • Envision Stuttgart, Germany — September 22, 2022
  • Envision New York, NY — October 20, 2022

Stay tuned for updates and agendas for future Envision events!

3 Ways to Up Legal’s Approachability Factor

Posted on May 29, 2022 by - Business Process Management, Digital Transformation

As many as 65% of enterprise employees bypass the legal department on occasion. Here’s how to turn that around and become the true leader Legal is meant to be.

Modern life teems with sigh-worthy moments: dodgy WiFi when you’re on deadline, your phone battery running out of juice with no place to recharge, the dreaded “You have two more password attempts before being locked out.”

But would it surprise you to learn that, for enterprise employees, dealing with Legal can also sometimes feel a little bit the same? The Enterprise Legal Relationship (ELR) Report – a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany – revealed that only 35% of respondents always engage with Legal on matters.

Even more astonishing, an inverse relationship exists: the fewer the transactions with Legal, the more positive the relationship. Employees from the United Kingdom, who tend to engage with the legal department most frequently, report the poorest interactions, whereas employees in France cite perhaps the best relationships with Legal, yet are most likely to bypass Legal.

It doesn’t have to be this way. These findings present a major opportunity for Legal to improve its approachability factor. In fact, the department has the chance to jumpstart efficiency, impact materiality, and grow the innovation and culture of the business in unprecedented ways.

Increase the percentage of employees that engage Legal by:

  1. Cutting the perception of red tape

By and large, employees believe Legal is doing its job – and exceedingly well! But for the enterprise employees who do admittedly bypass Legal on occasion, 36% say they feel the department has a tendency to sometimes be overly bureaucratic.

Legal excels at patents, trademarks, and intellectual property (IP), according to 92% of respondents, as well as matters involving HR issues (88%). But as business partners, nearly half (49%) claim that Legal can be “too process-oriented,” causing 53% of employees in even the most-compliant United States to occasionally circumvent legal processes. And in the other nations surveyed, those numbers skyrocket, to 63% in the United Kingdom, 68% in Germany, and 73% in France.

Legal is typically process-oriented – that’s how the department protects the business. This is a chance to examine existing policies and forge new ones that may reduce any unnecessary inefficiencies.

  1. Accelerating response times

Every internal client knows that mitigating enterprise risk is Legal’s essential purpose. Yet nearly half of global respondents worry that Legal’s abundance of caution while doing so could potentially damage sales cycles, affecting deal close rates (43%), missed earnings (35%), and even stock price drops and valuation loss (14% each, respectively). Further, many employees (41%) feel that Legal is not as responsive since many legal operations departments have been working remotely or on a hybrid schedule as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s impossible to work well together if a salient entity like Legal even occasionally feels absent from the enterprise. But introducing methods to improve channels of cross-enterprise communication as well as automation and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to rapidly accelerate Legal’s response time can dramatically prevent Legal’s chance of being bypassed.

  1. Embracing flexibility and inclusivity

Trust has a way of naturally trickling downward. Half of all employees (49%) – and three out of five (58%) in France – believe Legal can sometimes be a bit too rigid. If employees feel that a situation is inflexible, they may be far less likely to interact, for fear of being rejected. However, as one ethical compass of the enterprise, Legal also has a unique and distinct advantage in its proverbial back pocket: the ability to transform company culture by bearing the torch for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and protecting the business’ atomic unit – data.

Knowledge is power

Legal always puts itself in the line of fire for a business. But how can you protect the business if two-thirds of your internal clients occasionally evade your oversight?

Bypassing legal is no way to reach your enterprise’s desired destination. Arm yourself, your department, and your team with this knowledge – the knowledge to automate both workflows and processes for greater efficiency and effectiveness between departments; to be a business partner that accelerates the cycle of winning deals; and to become more involved, approachable, and collaborative – so that employees always abide by Legal’s policies. This is how Legal becomes a leader. And, by doing so, Legal will secure a spot as a key differentiator for cost efficiency, operational excellence, and revenue generation.

Find out more about how to prevent your legal team from being bypassed by downloading ELR Report Chapter 1.

The ELR Report is a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany intended to showcase relationship dynamics and perceived image between corporate legal teams and enterprise organizations.

Introducing Legal Matter Benchmarking

Posted on May 23, 2022 by - Legal Operations

To make the best decision on where to send your next big matter, you need the right data. That’s why we’ve added a brand new offering to Bodhala’s growing arsenal of benchmarking products: Matter Benchmarking. 

Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking is the first of its kind, providing unparalleled insights into what a matter costs, how many hours were worked, and a deep analysis of staffing and rates — down to the individual task or document. 

Rates will always play a critical role in understanding your costs. But when you peel back a few more layers of the onion, you will find there’s almost always more to the picture than meets the eye. Now with a single click, you can find out not just how many hours it took to create an important document — but also how many hours it should have taken, and how it should be staffed.  

Backed by Bodhala’s proprietary machine learning and AI, this first-to-market solution is truly groundbreaking. Let’s break it down (see what we did there?): 

Bodhala’s New Matter Similarity Model

To make this work, we built a completely new way of comparing matters. Our proprietary matter similarity model uses machine learning and natural language processing to identify similar matters from similar firms. Each pairing is given a similarity score of 1 to 100, indicating the strength of the match. 

The model uses over 10,000 different factors to identify similar matters. Plus, it’s smart – as more matters enter the system, it is constantly improving, identifying new pairings and rescoring old pairings. This ensures matters are always compared to the most relevant set of matters. 

Get Both Internal & Market Benchmarks

Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking compares your matters not just against similar matters from similar firms across the market, but also to your own internal panel. You may find that certain firms are much more efficient than others across your panel, but that the entire panel is far less efficient than the overall market for similar matters. 

Having both internal and market benchmarks provides you with a unique perspective on your current panel of firms. You can not only improve matter allocation on future matters but also make smarter decisions about how you manage your entire panel. 

Detailed Look at Rates & Hours

Every report breaks down both rates and hours by timekeeper level, comparing those rates and hours to both the market and your panel. Rates are only part of the picture so understanding how the matter was staffed, in addition to your rates, delivers true cost analysis. 

Drill Down Into Tasks & Documents 

Perhaps most exciting — and completely new — is Bodhala’s deep dive benchmarking on individual tasks and documents. Bodhala analyzes every matter, identifying key tasks and documents, and benchmarks those tasks against the market and your panel. 

Stop wondering how many hours that document should take to make — or if it should be handled by partners or associates. Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking gives you the answers.

By combining rate and staffing analysis with market and panel benchmarks, Matter Benchmarking helps you understand the true “should cost” of upcoming matters while also supporting better matter allocation and panel management. 

Start simplifying your budgeting and counsel selection process today and sign up for a demo. 

Introducing Legal Rate Benchmarking 2.0

Posted on May 23, 2022 by - Legal Operations

Rates for legal services are a black box. Are you getting a good rate? Are you overpaying for partners but getting a deal on associates?  

Historically it has been nearly impossible to know if your rates were market-appropriate. Available benchmarking reports were less-than-accurate, they often didn’t compare apples-to-apples, and they didn’t allow clients to understand the impact of their rates on their spend. 

We’ve got good news. Those days are GONE. 

Introducing Bodhala’s Rate Benchmarking 2.0 – a transparent comparison of your effective outside counsel rates against both the market and your panel – all the way down to the named timekeeper level. 

This new and improved solution delivers what legal departments have been waiting for — accurate benchmarks and usable insights on rates. We enhanced our proprietary rate benchmarks by analyzing cost impact, including estimated rate increases, historical analysis, and much more. 

Budgeting, rate negotiation, and internal reporting just got a whole lot easier! 

Let’s dive into what’s new and improved!

Compare Your Benchmarks from Firm to Firm 

Comparing each firm to the market is important — but understanding how all of your firms compare to each other is also critical. This comprehensive view of your firms’ benchmarks gives you a high-level overview of how your firms stack up against each other and the market, providing health scores for each firm. 

Historical Impact Analysis

Customers often ask us, “If I had paid market-appropriate rates, how would that have impacted my overall spend?” Great question — and now we include the answer front and center. 

We analyze your whole spend across your selected practice area, calculating how much you would have saved overall had your rates been closer to market standards. Then we break it down by timekeeper level, giving you a clear line of sight into the highest impact opportunities at your next rate negotiation.

Named Timekeeper Benchmarks & Cost Analysis

Breaking down benchmarks by timekeeper level is important. But we all know that not all timekeepers are created equal. Every team has its key players — their “Lebrons” — and they usually come at considerable cost. More often than not, superstars are worth the money. But are you being charged superstar prices for utility players? 

With granular benchmarking data about individual timekeepers, you can ensure you’re paying appropriate rates for every timekeeper. 

White-Glove Service & Expert Advisory

What if you don’t have internal resources to focus on benchmarking? Or you want expert advice on how to leverage your benchmarks to drive better outcomes at your next rate negotiation? 

No problem!

Bodhala’s Client Success Team offers white-glove services, including everything from highlighting key savings opportunities and creating sizzle-worthy decks to share with your internal stakeholders, to consulting on tactical strategies for rate negotiation and staffing recommendations. 

Whatever kind of support your team needs to meet your goals, we’ve got you covered.  

Ready to start running legal like a business?

When it comes to your law firm rates, you have more leverage than you realize. You just don’t have the data yet. Fortunately, with new Bodhala’s Rate Benchmarking, it’s now easy to budget smarter, negotiate harder, and get more value from our outside counsel.  

Test drive Rate Benchmarking for FREE!

Not ready to commit? Want to see it in action for free? 

Check out our FREE Rate Benchmarking Report to benchmark any firm in the AmLaw 200 across 10 top practice areas. No commitment, no need to give us a call — just a couple of clicks and you’ll have your benchmark.

GET MY FREE BENCHMARK

Which Internal Teams Work Best with Legal?

Posted on May 23, 2022 by - Business Process Management, Digital Transformation

Trusted relationships are everything.

According to Lord Richard Layard, today’s foremost happiness researcher and program director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, what matters most in business is what matters most in life: cultivating a sense of belonging and purpose bolstered by meaningful connection.

Any team, be it Sherlock and Watson or the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, possesses a shared objective, goal, or destination. Every player must be invested in doing the work needed to arrive at that pinnacle. And each individual must feel a connection with their colleagues or teammates to want to achieve that success together.

It’s no different for business teams. If you’ve ever wondered how you can enhance your relationship with internal clients, you aren’t alone. It turns out the status of the relationship with Legal can differ by department.

The Enterprise Legal Relationship (ELR) Report – a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany – found that the majority (77%) of enterprise employees believe that Legal is exceptional at negotiating on the behalf of their companies. However, less than one in five (19%) feels Legal prioritizes its internal clients, and the status of those relationships can vary across the enterprise.

So what accounts for this disconnect among departments? And what can be done to change it?

Satisfied with safeguarding

The ELR Report revealed that enterprise employees believe Legal’s charter is to protect the company, assets, and people. Additionally, 46% of all global employees consider Legal a trusted advisor. It makes sense, then, that the more liability-prone departments have a higher rate of positive engagement with Legal: Around the globe, 62% of employees from Human Resources (HR) and Finance note positive relations with Legal.

Even more impressively, seven in 10 U.S. respondents are pleased with Legal’s interactions with HR. Employees in France cite collegiality with both HR and Finance at 66%. In the United Kingdom, 64% tout a good working relationship with HR; 62% say the same of Finance, whereas in Germany – which reports the lowest rate of satisfaction with Legal — half (50%) are content with HR and 58% with Finance.

Feeling the strain

For Sales, IT, Marketing and Procurement, however, those numbers plummet – only 43% of global respondents say Legal’s interactions with Sales are positive, and that figure drops to 38% for IT and 37% for both Marketing and Procurement.

U.K. employees cite satisfaction with Sales, Marketing, and IT at just 35%. And in France – where, by and large, legal teams are viewed as uncompromising – only 29% consider Legal to share a decent connection with Procurement; 33% with IT.

Similarly, 40% of U.S. enterprise employees call Legal’s relationships with Sales and IT positive. Marketing comes in lower at 38%. Data are not much improved for these departments in Germany, where less the half have good interactions with Sales (49%) and IT (43%), and even fewer do with Marketing (37%) and Procurement (38%).

Looking in the mirror

Legal manages various types of matters including contracts, negotiations, lawsuits, and issues of compliance. Since HR and Finance are required to follow protocol – they are not supposed to deviate from “the book,” and the rules that Legal sets and abides by to safeguard the company – it’s only natural that they find dealing with Legal easier.

Meanwhile, Sales, Marketing, IT, and Procurement – departments that are, by their nature, meant to push the envelope to innovate, hit numbers, and modernize – report frustration working with Legal. As it is their responsibility to assertively grow and advance the enterprise in avant-garde and creative ways, they may feel stymied and stonewalled by the very parameters put into place to protect the business.

A call for change

Still, it doesn’t have to be this way. People are a company’s most valuable asset. And with the core of any business a collection of both internal and external relationships, the more connected the enterprise, the more successful it will be. For the sake of business growth and efficiency, Legal can seize this moment to become a more active partner, to nurture more collaborative alliances, to enhance relationships across the business – and to ultimately connect to the enterprise as a whole, now more than ever.

Take the next step in elevating your internal working relationships. Your business is counting on you.

Learn more by reading ELR Report Chapter 1.

The ELR Report is a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany intended to showcase relationship dynamics and perceived image between corporate legal teams and enterprise organizations.

Leading from the Front: The Transformative Landscape of Legal Operations (CLOC 2022 Recap)

Posted on May 22, 2022 by - Business Process Management, Company News and Events

The annual Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Global Institute 2022 just wrapped up in Las Vegas, gathering the most innovative and disruptive legal professionals from around the world for the event of the year. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to meet everyone in person and an absolute honor to sponsor the first in-person CLOC in two years. The networking was amazing and the learnings were invaluable. Here’s a recap of our week at CLOC.

CLOC 2022 in 5 key takeaways: There opportunity for meaningful change is here

  1. Embrace the connected enterprise. Legal departments do not operate in a silo. While it’s no secret that they are well-positioned to operationalize efficiencies, investing in relationships with other departments can have a significant impact on enterprises at large. Legal operations professionals benefit from learning the importance of building trust and relationships cross-departmentally, especially with IT, to deliver value and use that value as currency.
  2. Plan for workshop efficiency in your department. Legal is seeing many of the same trends that other departments face (increased costs, higher workloads, effects of inflation / post-Covid world) and need to be nimble in order to scale. Driving efficiencies and containing costs are two key reasons legal operations is important and growing so quickly. Its impact now and in the future is almost like a tidal wave hitting legal departments across the industry, but in the best of ways.
  3. Think of legal as a value creation center in the company. We’ve all heard about “running legal like a business.” Legal departments, great and small, no longer have the option of saying “no” to the concept of cutting-edge legal operations. We need to connect processes and the tech stack in a way that drives value rather than just reducing spend. When technology solution providers are aligned with core competencies, the legal department’s success already has a running head start.
  4. Meaningful change is needed in DE&I, CSR and ESG. Legal operations should be leading from the front on these programs. We need to infuse competence, compassion, courage, and tools to help each individual drive this transformation. Early diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts create a richer candidate pool of potential employees and result in significantly more diverse hires, but more work needs to be done in this area to get it right.
  5.  Defend your spend with data. Innovative legal operations leaders are pivoting their approach to managing outside counsel spend by using data to validate their spend and drive efficiency and savings. AI and machine learning present new opportunities to help corporate legal teams make better strategic decisions. Using legal business intelligence like comparative analytics and benchmarking, they are going beyond basic reporting to put spend in context with market insights. Market and panel benchmarking, firm report cards and comparative analytics can help strategically manage spend – and expectations from both firms and internal stakeholders.

CLOC 2022 in 5 quotes: Celebrating the resilience of the legal ops community

Quote 1

 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) has been a hot topic of conversation since last year and we’re not surprised to see it come up in this year’s CLOC Institute. Consilio’s session on how law firms and in-house teams can work collaboratively to measure, report, and improve law firm diversity showed that it’s no longer just a talking point; it’s also an action point.

Data is crucial to inform our conversations with law firms on their diversity. It’s harder to backtrack from a promise if it can be measured. However, measurability arose in question across many DE&I metric panels: How does legal ops handle the situation when attorneys choose not to disclose diversity status? The answer? “That’s a conversation you need to have with them. Why don’t they?”

It’s all about having these intentional conversations early on. While it may seem uncomfortable, legal operations has the power and flexibility to ask probing questions about underrepresented attorneys as clients of outside counsel. Legal ops also has the unique ability to share best practices they see their organization and other outside counsel practicing. “We don’t want to ask anything of our outside counsel firms that we’re not committed to doing ourselves.”

The takeaway? Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. To enact lasting change in the industry, we’re all working together to improve and support DE&I objectives with clear visibility into the data.

Quote 2

Working collaboratively has shown to be of great importance, especially when remote and hybrid workplaces are a lot more commonplace for legal ops now. In this session, we partnered with our parent company Onit to show how the foundation of communication begins with trust. Trust that your team will deliver value to the individuals you work with, to other departments, and to the overall business. That trust will pay off unexpected dividends, whether your team is part of a scaling business or a well-established enterprise.

That trust also connects back to any initiatives you bring up to the wider organization. Connecting back to our previous quote on DE&I, having that trust means that legal is at a prime position to mold the department and organization goals. Legal already has a reputation for being an unapproachable authority figure in the organization. When we meet, connect, and share some humanity, stopping and listening allows us to better meet the needs of the people we’re working with.

The takeaway? Make establishing a good working relationship with other departments a priority. We’re all here to ensure the business flourishes. You protect the business from external risks better when you’re not facing avoidable internal strife.

Quote 3

 

While this specific session may have been addressing contract legal management (CLM) users, we can apply this mindset to any technology solution. Like this attendee said, technology will never solve your problems if you don’t have a clear understanding of how it will improve your processes. And it seems like at least half of legal ops professionals are missing that essential understanding part if we take this audience as a microcosm of the larger community.

Would you use a screwdriver to hammer down a nail? Probably not (unless you’re desperate and don’t have anything better on hand at the moment). Likewise, technology is a tool at the end of the day. Whether or not it’s being used effectively all depends on the user. In legal speak, that’s you and your team. Having fancy technology to address your pain points might seem great at first, but it’s a bandage solution in the end. Kind of like forcing a circular peg into a square hole.

You wouldn’t start building a house without understanding exactly how loose wood, stone, and metal end up becoming a solid structure capable of withstanding wear and tear. So why shouldn’t your approach to bringing on new legal technology be the same?

The takeaway? Understanding your processes is key. From there, you and your team have the ability to convince others on why you need technology to improve them and how you will go about doing it.

Quote 4

 

On the topic of technology, we think we can accurately predict the trend for the rest of the year. The top priority for current and future transformative legal ops initiatives is digitizing their processes. That dominated every other topic at a whopping 54% in this panel, beating out the next emphasis on spend management by 34%. The need for technology has continued to increase in the face of a changing workforce and work environment.

This is fantastic news, especially in an industry that has traditionally been slow to embrace change. It’s not an exaggeration to say that law firms are still using spreadsheets to track their data even if many law firms are phasing into more secure tech solutions. However, what exactly does digitization of processes mean? An audience member raised an excellent counterpoint. What are the outcomes you want to drive by digitizing processes? And which processes? We know that one legal team’s answers will differ from another legal team. After all, no journey is exactly the same. But wanting to digitize processes is a great sign that many legal departments are ready to take the next step of maturing their legal operations function.

The takeaway? Legal technology is not a fad.

Quote 5

Why do we as in-house legal professionals do what we do? We’re here to facilitate risk for sure. But another powerful ability we have is enacting change on a scale beyond our departments. With spending power over outside counsel and protection over the business from external risk, in-house legal teams are in a unique position to become agents of change.

And how do we do that? As this session shows, we flip the script. We’re not here to be the heroes of the story. We’re here to ensure the end user is the hero. The end user can be anyone: the finance department your team is collaborating with to manage outside counsel, the wider organization you’re serving and its goals, or even the clients of whatever your organization provides. We’re the special tool they leverage. By empowering the end user, we enact change.

The takeaway? The legal operations community continues to innovate. Our ability to enact change as legal ops professionals are only limited by our imagination. You can always try again with a new perspective.

Introducing Bodhala’s New Legal Benchmarking Solutions

Posted on May 10, 2022 by - Legal Operations

Are you overpaying your law firms? What should your upcoming matter cost? Are your law firms delivering the value their rates warrant?

Historically, in-house teams have lacked the transparency and insights needed to answer these questions.

Until now.

Meet Bodhala’s new Benchmarking Solutions — the easiest way to compare your rates and matters against your panel and the market at large. 

With significant improvements to Rate Benchmarking and our brand new Matter Benchmarking solution, corporate legal teams can finally access the market insights necessary to budget smarter, negotiate harder, and save money on outside legal counsel.

Let’s take a look at what’s new!

Rate Benchmarking

Our new and improved Rate Benchmarking delivers what corporate legal leaders have been waiting for – accurate benchmarks coupled with usable insights. Get ready legal ops folks — budgeting, rate negotiation, and internal reporting just got a whole lot easier! 

We enhanced our rate benchmarks by adding named timekeeper benchmarks, cost impact analysis, projected ROI on increase mitigation, and more. 

Compare Your Benchmarks from Firm to Firm

We added an overview of all of your benchmarks, enabling you to easily find and compare your firm benchmarks. This comprehensive view highlights how each firm stacks up against one another and the rest of the market — plus, it makes all of your benchmarks easier to access.

Ratings in red, yellow, and green make it simple to identify where you’re getting a good deal and where you may want to focus your negotiation efforts. 

Historical Impact Analysis

Ever asked yourself, “How much could we have saved if we paid more market-appropriate rates?” 

We thought so. Well, it’s time to stop wondering because Bodhala’s new Rate Benchmarking crunches those numbers for you. 

We analyze your spend with a firm across practice areas, calculating how much you would have saved if your rates were closer to market standards. Seeing those numbers in black and white (or red…) really puts things in perspective, helping you decide if any rate mitigation effort is worth your time.

Named Timekeeper Benchmarks

All timekeepers are not created equal. Sure, you’re willing to pay the big bucks for those star players, but does every partner deserve that “star treatment”? 

Just think of how easy rate review will be when you can simply pull up the benchmarks for all of your individual timekeepers. And when it comes time to select counsel for that big upcoming matter? Break out those named timekeeper benchmarks and quickly identify the highest value player on your roster. 

Matter Benchmarking

With Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking you’ll get unparalleled insights into what a matter costs, how many hours were worked, and a deep analysis of staffing and rates – down to the individual task or document. 

Matter benchmarks will simplify your budgeting process and help you refine your outside counsel guidelines to ensure you’re never paying more than you should for your matters.  

Get Market and Panel Benchmarks

Matter Benchmarking compares your matters not just against similar matters from similar firms across the market, but also to your own internal panel. 

Having both internal panel and market benchmarks provides you with a unique perspective on your current panel of firms. You can not only improve matter allocation on future matters but also make smarter decisions about how you manage your entire panel. 

Detailed Look at Rates & Hours

Every report breaks down both rates and hours by timekeeper level, comparing those rates and hours to both the market and your panel. Rates are only part of the picture so understanding how the matter was staffed, in addition to your rates, delivers true cost analysis. 

Drill Down Into Tasks & Documents 

Say you’re doing a fund formation and you’re curious how many hours a subscription agreement should really take. Look no further. 

You can stop wondering how many hours that document or task should take – Matter Benchmarking gives you the answers. With benchmarks for hours and staffing ratios, you can keep current matters on track, and budget more effectively for the next one. 

We’re here to help

Bodhala’s Client Success Team offers full white-glove service, from highlighting key savings opportunities to consulting on tactical strategies for rate negotiation or matter staffing — and everything in between.

Ready to start running legal like a business?

When it comes to managing your outside counsel spend, you have more leverage than you realize. You just don’t have the data yet. 

Bodhala’s Benchmarking Solutions put insights at your fingertips, enabling you to make strategic decisions across your legal department – from rates to matters and everything in between.

Ready to give it a spin?

TRY RATE BENCHMARKING FOR FREE!