Team size: Six 

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?   

Legal and compliance want to and strive to become proactive advisors and trusted business partners for all relevant strategic levers of our present MRP. 

This can be split into: 

Operational excellence. We prioritise tasks that directly contribute value to the business. Meanwhile, we delegate repetitive or standardised legal work either for self-service within the organisation or efficient outsourcing. We leverage AI software to reduce the effort involved in contract review and implement clear process management, utilise draft templates, and empower the operational business to handle requests efficiently. Finally, legal must optimise external legal counsel engagement for maximum impact. 

Compliance. Legal must stay vigilant in monitoring and managing the ever-growing compliance requirements. This involves keeping abreast of regulatory changes and ensuring adherence to legal standards. It is crucial to maintain a consistent tone from the top. Business, sanctions, and product compliance should be integral to the organisational ethos. Leadership plays a pivotal role in setting the right example. Legal teams must align closely with all internal stakeholders. Whether it’s finance, sales, or HR, collaboration ensures a cohesive approach to compliance across the organisation. 

Employer of choice. Enhancing employee attraction is, and will stay, a real challenge for leaders! Employee retention involves creating an appealing work environment through engaging tasks. This includes establishing clear roles, well-defined processes, and effective leadership. The crux is, however, that the landscape of legal departments is rapidly changing due to advancements in technology. These developments are reshaping strategies for insourcing and outsourcing legal services. As demands for agility and cost-effectiveness intensify, legal departments are undergoing transformation at an accelerated pace. Increasingly, tasks are being handled by paralegals, prompt engineers, data scientists, operational experts, project specialists, and other non-legal professionals. To maintain high-quality output, legal teams will need to collaborate across disciplines, infuse technology, and cultivate a multidisciplinary workforce. Last but not least, many of these changes create uncertainty and leaders will need to keep open eyes and ears for their team members – this is essential. 

Data management. Data management plays a pivotal role in organisations, and its significance is closely intertwined with data privacy. The role of the legal department is evident, we create data privacy policies aligned with regulations and organisational needs, we assess legal risks related to data management and privacy. We negotiate and draft contracts with data processors, vendors, and partners. Equally, legal makes sure to educate employees on data privacy best practices. 

We are working hard on the above goals, but I am certain that in the coming years, legal departments have indeed the potential to evolve into true business partners as mentioned. They will provide advice that is not only proactive but also evidence-based and strategically aligned. Legal leaders and their teams will take on an expanding range of responsibilities, including risk management, compliance, governance, operational matters, and regulatory issues. Simultaneously, they will leverage new processes, technologies, and skills to efficiently deliver practical legal guidance. The focus will be on enhancing user-friendly approaches and adding tangible value to the organisation. 

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?  

Generative AI including data and contract management, will become an essential part of legal and compliance. Consider that the success of a contract hinges on its terms. Once these terms are established, it becomes crucial to assess their real-world performance. This evaluation includes determining whether the expected value is being delivered, if service levels are being met, and whether any adjustments or terminations are necessary. In today’s business landscape, organisations increasingly rely on us to uncover opportunities for revenue acceleration and cost reduction. Embedded Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems offer the necessary visibility and data to understand how contracts are faring. For instance, business units can receive alerts when contracts are nearing expiration, allowing them to terminate underperforming agreements or negotiate improved terms. This proactive approach contributes to stronger business outcomes. We need to stay on top of these developments, discussing this regularly in the team and the broader organisation. Naturally, we have key accounts in the team who look after and monitor the relevant developments.