The corporate legal operations role in Europe has seen tremendous growth over the past two years, and general counsel rely more on technology for productivity gains as they focus on strategic business goals, according to the General Counsel Barometer 2019.

Strategic role

The report is released by Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions, a provider of enterprise legal spend and matter management, contract lifecycle management, and legal analytics solutions. The General Counsel Barometer 2019 shows that GCs are expected to play a more strategic role in their organizations, a trend that has increased since it was reported in the General Counsel Barometer 2017. The study explores how the role of a GC has changed to adapt to the evolving complexities of the legal and economic environment while embracing new technologies that offer enhanced capabilities, analytics and opportunities for significant cost management. In legal operations, 35 percent of companies said that they have at least one legal operations professional, compared to 4 percent in 2017, while 73 percent of companies with over 150 legal professionals now have a dedicated legal operations professional. The report highlights a change in strategic focus as 78 percent of respondents stated that their role has become increasingly strategic, a significant rise from 38 percent in 2017. As company size increases, the law department is more likely to have a strategic focus over a functional one. In terms of adding value, 48 percent of respondents reported that the top priority for their legal department over the next 12 months is adding value to the business and becoming a more strategic business partner. While in 2017, improving internal efficiency was seen as the top priority for general counsel.

Technology spend

On technology investment levels, 72 percent of respondents expect to see investments in technology increase over the next 12 months. According to 70 percnet of respondents, the main reason for investing in technology is to increase the productivity of the legal team. When asked what areas of technology were expected to deliver efficiency gains to lawyers, 64 percent said contract lifecycle management. The survey also revealed corporations have moved less specialized work from law firms to in-house counsel, with 42 percent of respondents saying they conduct 61-80 percent of work in-house, a 27 percent increase since 2017. Specialized work is still often outsourced to traditional law firms, as 73 percents of respondents send highly technical work like patent services and due diligence to an outside provider. “This year’s survey demonstrates that as GCs in Europe are expected to play increasingly strategic roles within their businesses, legal operations professionals have emerged and are demanding technology that drives efficiency,” says Barry Ader, vice president of marketing and product management for Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions. “According to the survey, GCs will seek technology solutions that help reduce the cost of legal operations and increase efficiency within the organization. This will allow them to not only dedicate time toward strategic business initiatives but also arm them with key business intelligence through enhanced reporting and analytics.”