Ashurst’s study of global GCs across multiple sectors and four continents lays out a scenario that should be familiar enough to anyone with their eye on the sector – the role of the in-house legal teams is rapidly expanding, but the resources available to them are not. Of the GCs included in Ashurst’s study, every respondent said that their team’s workload is increasing faster than their allocated budget, while more than half said that their team’s budget has been cut in the last 24 months. Just under 25 per cent of respondents said that their in-house lawyer headcount has been reduced.

Between a rock and a small budget

With this shrinking margin for wastage, improving operational efficiency is the order of the day for most in-house legal leaders. More than 80 per cent of Ashurst’s respondents said that they felt under pressure to cut costs and boost efficiency in their own department. ‘What we are hearing from an increasing number of GCs is that the same level of business contribution and performance scrutiny is being applied to the in-house legal teams as is applied to other areas of the business,’ says Ashurst director Mike Polson. ‘This directly leads to ensuring resources are being deployed in those areas which deliver greatest value to the business as a whole.’

Technology to the rescue

It’s a tough equation, but GCs are rising to the challenge. Almost three-quarters of Ashurst’s survey respondents said that their efforts to boost the efficiency of the legal function had paid off over the last 24 months. A majority (67 per cent) of in-house leaders are becoming more innovative in their use of technology in order to support efficiency efforts. According to respondents, expanding the role of technology supports efficiency in several key ways: by reducing costs, saving time, improving document management and generation; and clearer recording and reporting of key metrics. Around 45 per cent of respondents said that a document management system is at the top of their technology services ‘wish list’.