As in-house legal teams move from cost centers to opportunity creators, it`s important to set performance goals that align with their new role within the organization. By taking the time to set measurable goals and track progress, you can ensure that your team is effectively contributing to the overall success of the business. The goal is to ensure that legal services support areas of greatest business need and/or highest legal risk. There are probably a number of relevant factors here: – Similarly, you need to consider the effectiveness of contract management, the eDiscovery projects processed, the number of documents reviewed, or the legal issues studied for legal operations employees. However, some companies are making positions more attractive by opening up career paths and upskilling opportunities. Careers in a corporate legal department typically begin three to five years after graduation and training at a law firm. Isn`t the purpose of the legal team obvious? After all, the team is always busy (maybe too busy) and our business colleagues know that we are here to solve legal issues in the organization. If there is a demand for what we do, we must be necessary and valuable. It may make sense to increase the number of employees or hire specialists to meet the needs of a particular industry. Teams may also choose to invest in training, especially if different business units have seen an increase in the same types of legal issues.
One approach to defining a functional objective is to compare business activities and priorities with how in-house counsel spend their time and where they go. Should the legal department focus more on drafting complex commercial contracts for new projects, managing external lawyers to handle mass litigation, or responding to day-to-day requests? Even as today`s legal departments are under pressure from a new wave of corporate litigation, they have skills gaps to fill and must recruit from a pool of young talent who have doubts about working in legal departments. These challenges are not insurmountable, but require a fresh look at the structure and processes of the legal department. Our experience has shown that general counsel can build a next-generation legal department by addressing four imperatives: clarifying purpose and priorities, establishing an evolving legal ecosystem, anticipating and planning litigation, and enabling legal talent to build a career. The resulting next-generation legal department will not only offer on-demand concierge services, but will also have a say in the company`s strategic and tactical decisions. Ideally, you would follow up by type of topic such as litigation, contracts, general secretary, intellectual property, etc. In addition, you can track the average hourly rate of external law firms and track the department`s comparison with cost-saving measures. Step 5 is to codify the objective of the legal team by establishing the pact between the GC and the organization.
It could cover the following areas: – Being the conscience of the company is a role that GCs take very seriously. The fact that 85% of GCs believe that the legal team should be the primary driver of corporate values clearly reflects this responsibility. CCs should build a team that embodies the company`s values while providing high-quality legal expertise. Legal departments are subject to the same forces of change that have led companies to transform structures and processes into product development, operations, sales and more. Changes in the legal ecosystem include unprecedented technological advances, a new wave of corporate disputes, and the changing career expectations of their fellow lawyers. To attract and retain talent, operate effectively, and support the organization`s mission, legal counsel should take a fresh look at their organization`s structure. Since one of the most important budget lines for the legal department is expenses for outside companies, there are several reasons why you should formally evaluate external lawyers. Formalizing evaluations will set quality management expectations and allow for discussions on the performance of external consultants. Thank you for your detailed information in setting goals for the legal department. How the legal department`s mission statements align with the company`s goals can mitigate the impact of the big resignation. Argopoint has experience of putting pressure on corporate legal departments. The increasing challenges and “high stakes” decisions of legal departments create a dynamic in which effective management is crucial.
Argopoint develops efficient management solutions for each legal department of the company, taking into account both short- and long-term objectives. It can just be a raw number, or you can compare it to a goal set at the beginning of the year. If you want to be more specific, you can break down the number of contracts by type, such as commercial, NDA, supplier, complex, simple, value, or any other type of contract handled by your department.