February 22, 2023

 Sharath Beedu

tech adoption return to office software improving operations elm legal operations law department work from home

Recent news of law departments wrestling with how to proceed regarding requiring a return to the office reflects the larger trend of many companies experimenting with getting back to the office for a few or all days in the week. Elevate is no exception – we continue to evaluate various options for our staff globally. While a clear verdict has yet to arise on which permutation and combination work best, I was intrigued by the remarks of a C-level executive of a large publicly-traded technology company, who said that extensive data demonstrated productivity surged when workers were in the office. However, the company could only transition to having 60% of the staff in the office for two days a week. This equates to less than 25% utilisation of office space – atrocious ROI anytime, especially when a recession looms. The executive predicted most companies will offer employees two options: commit to going into the office full (or nearly full) time or work remotely and relinquish expensive office space.

How, then, ought the leaders of law departments proceed?

Of course, the short answer is, “It depends.” But digging deeper, a key issue is how a law department conducts work. Some leading law departments have adopted software tools that impact the remote/in-office calculus, with effective online processes to manage internal requests for legal help and the tasks and projects of law department staff. However, many law departments still rely on their Office 365 toolkit to manage work rather than software optimised for the unique needs of law departments. As these law departments continue experimenting with hybrid approaches to staff location, they run the risk that productivity will take a hit from information and materials ending up scattered everywhere employees work – Post-It notes stuck on documents and alongside monitors at work or at home, printouts lying on workplace desks, voicemails divided between work phones and personal cell phones, coworkers sharing information via office flybys, and other scenarios.

Meanwhile, law departments that have already streamlined their work to become “location agnostic” are now starting to reap the benefit of standardised processes, efficient and timely responses (Contract requests), and self-service for simple questions (e.g., Where is the latest NDA?). To give just one example, one Elevate customer uses the Manage Request module of Elevate ELM to collect and consolidate requests and questions concerning conflicts and risks, outside counsel guidelines, HR and diversity items, legal matters and budget, marketing legal review, and IT and office support needs. Many other customers have adopted the ELM for other use cases to improve their day-to-day legal operations.

The benefits extend far beyond those related to workforce location. The most obvious one is cost-savings of non-discretionary spend. With many law department budgets frozen or facing cuts, it is now critical to reduce the expense of work the law department must do (e.g., compliance activity). In addition, Our ELM customers are able to do ‘more with less’ as speedier processes enable lawyers to spend more time on higher-value activities.

For leaders of law departments yet to adopt technologies like Elevate ELM, remember: just like trying to time investments in the stock market, there is never a perfect time to invest in automation and improving operations. However, there is always a significant opportunity cost in sticking with the status quo – and the longer you wait, the bigger the price you pay for inaction. No matter how busy your team is now, if you put off improving your processes until things reach a crisis, you will be forced to tackle the issue at the worst possible moment. No one wants to learn the hard way.