Team size: Eight

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

The biggest challenge I have faced over the past year is the rapid pace of change and technological evolution and its impact on the legal industry. This fast-paced change has created several obstacles for in-house lawyers, such as keeping up with the latest advancements in legal tech and understanding how to implement them effectively. Additionally, there is often a reluctance to embrace new technologies within organisations, making it challenging to convince stakeholders to adopt new processes and tools.

To overcome these challenges, in-house lawyers should stay informed about the latest trends in legal tech by attending conferences and training sessions, seeking out educational opportunities, and reading industry publications. Additionally, in-house lawyers should proactively find solutions that benefit their companies and take calculated risks to implement new technologies and processes.

In your opinion, what areas should in-house lawyers focus on over the next few years to prove value to their organisations in Türkiye?

To prove their value to organisations in Türkiye, I believe that in-house lawyers should focus on developing solid relationships with business partners, understanding the company’s goals and objectives, being proactive in finding creative solutions, and familiarising themselves with technology trends.

Building strong relationships with business partners is crucial, as it helps in-house lawyers to be seen as trusted advisors and valuable contributors to the company’s success. Understanding the company’s goals and objectives allows in-house lawyers to make informed decisions and provide practical and effective legal advice. Proactivity in finding creative solutions helps to improve operations. In contrast, familiarity with technology trends helps in-house lawyers to incorporate legal tech into their work where appropriate to improve efficiency and add value to their organisations.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

An example of an innovation that improved the work of my legal team without incurring significant expenses was implementing a legal intake system using legal tech. This system allowed us to manage legal requests efficiently and prioritise urgent matters, saving time and reducing repetitive tasks. The cost was minimal, and the results were significant regarding productivity and standardisation.

With the legal intake system, requests were centralised and organised in a user-friendly interface, making it easier to categorise, prioritise, and track each request. This made providing timely and efficient responses to stakeholders easier and helped streamline operations. The cost of the legal intake system was relatively low, as it was a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that did not require any significant investment in hardware or infrastructure. The benefits of the legal intake system, such as improved efficiency, better collaboration between team members, and increased transparency in operations, outweighed the cost.

In conclusion, implementing the legal intake system is an excellent example of how incorporating legal tech can help in-house lawyers improve their work and add value to their organisations without incurring significant expenses.