Below is a copy of a featured blog written by Debora Motyka Jones for CLOC's Legal Operations Blog.
People often refer to the legal operations function as a “legal chief of staff.” In many ways, that characterization fits really well. One of the key elements of being a chief of staff is supporting your department’s daily operations. In order to do so effectively, you need to be clear on department strategy and ensure that everyone in the department is clear on the strategy as well. One of the best ways to drive this clarity and alignment across the group is to host an annual strategy session. As I mentioned in a prior post, it is helpful,...
Have you created, or were handed, a budget but you don’t know where to start? Or, have you managed a budget for a while but want some other perspectives on what to look for throughout the year? Well this is the post for you. As I mentioned in my prior post about creating budgets, I have managed budgets for a long time in legal, operations, and other departments, as well as gotten input on this topic from many peers. Below you will find five of my top tips.
Have you ever prepared a great legal department budget only to find out three months into it that your company’s services group has decided to expand to Singapore? They want US personnel to assist in delivering the services by logging in to computers in Singapore. They also want to hire some local team members and move some over from other countries. Finally, they are servicing local companies so they need a new set of contracts. On top of all of that, they are launching in four weeks and IT, HR, and finance are all coming to legal to...
Ten years ago, legal operations were two unrelated words. I remember attending many an ACC conference where the discussion for legal departments centered on how to get a seat at the table with other business units within their company. Fast forward a decade and I would argue that most GC have succeeded in getting a seat at the table. With higher scrutiny on executives, heightened privacy requirements, and the ever present risk of cyber attacks, legal teams are now in regular conversations with executives and other departments. Now that they...