December 19, 2025 – In a recent episode of The LOPSided Podcast, John Croft, President and Co-Founder of Elevate, talks about the evolving landscape in legal service procurement and why law companies or alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) have become integral to modern legal operating models.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience, John explains that today’s legal work spans three layers:

• Strategic matters that must remain closely aligned with the business objectives
• High-stakes work requiring specialist law firm expertise
• A substantial middle layer of routine, business-critical activities

It is this middle layer, work that needs to be delivered efficiently, consistently, and at scale, where ALSPs are creating the greatest impact.

John also emphasises that real transformation doesn’t come from isolated fixes. Fragmented tools, disconnected vendors, or one-off efficiency projects rarely deliver lasting change. Instead, he advocates for enterprise-wide operating models that integrate legal services, technology, data, and flexible resourcing, allowing legal teams to scale with the business while keeping cost growth under control and improving speed to revenue.

Listen to the full episode to hear John Croft’s take on how ALSPs are reshaping legal and driving sustainable change.