Ops Taking a Holistic View of In-House Counsel’s Role in the Business the area that I’m looking at as the pressure relief valve, if
Ken Crutchfield, vice president and general manager, LRUS Legal Markets, Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory, U.S., discusses ways that corporate legal departments can optimize their operations, from budgeting and spend to the efficiency and success of business outcomes.
you will. There are a couple of actions that can be taken that tie into that idea. As in-house counsel, consider your stakeholders and customers – are there actions that you can take to offload work and empower them to be more self-service oriented, for example? Another important action is to consider key performance indicators (KPIs). If your organization does not have KPIs, perhaps it should.
CCBJ: The pressure to manage the balance between cost and outcome continues to increase. What trends
If you are using KPIs, consider whether they really are
do you see in how corporate legal departments are
measuring outcomes or if they’re just measuring activity.
budgeting and forecasting?
Measuring outcomes is much more important and impactful, and they may not necessarily be measured in legal
Ken Crutchfield: I believe the key is to think of budgeting
terms. For a simple example, are there ways that you can
in terms of productivity and leverage. The ability to identify
enable more nondisclosure agreements to be completed
tools and technology that make staff more effective and
with less involvement from the in-house counsel, making
help them get the right outcomes is crucial. That’s really
stakeholders more self-sufficient? Or, if you’re looking CORPORATE COUNSEL BUSINESS JOURNAL
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