Author: Onit

Although certain perceptions between Legal and enterprise employees may seem fathoms apart, that only speaks to the remarkable opportunities to deeply connect, materially grow, and further protect your business.

Tucked within an 18th-century ode to transformation penned by historian and scholar Thomas Gray is a familiar saying: “Ignorance is bliss.”

Many of us, however, are not aware of how that famous poem ends: “ …where ignorance is bliss / ‘tis folly to be wise.” Read in its entirety, this line is not so much an excuse to avoid the truth for the sake of happiness, but rather a reflection on embracing the unexpected. Because ready or not, change will come knocking.

Recently released, chapter two of the Enterprise Legal Reputation (ELR) Report, a multinational study spotlighting how legal professionals perceive their interactions with internal clients, revealed that while 73% of Legal cites positive relationships with its internal clients, only 60% of enterprise employees feel the same. Similarly, Legal reported greater connections with every department than employees did: IT (78%), Procurement (76%), Sales (74%), and Marketing (73%) for Legal as opposed to just 38% for IT, 37% for Procurement, 43% for Sales and 37% for Marketing for employee respondents. And though nearly every legal professional (95%) considered their department efficient in managing service requests, three in five employee respondents (59%) characterize Legal as “inefficient.”

What accounts for these incongruities? This perception predicament — where what one sees does not necessarily match what exists — presents an undeniable Iceberg Effect.

Sometimes, what we don’t know can hurt us. But while Legal may only be seeing part of the equation, the ELR report also uncovered untapped potential and opportunities glittering below the surface for legal operations to shine a beacon on everything from topline revenue and innovation to competitive differentiation, brand image, and corporate culture.

Here are three ways Legal can melt the Iceberg Effect and connect more deeply across the enterprise:

1. Spark faster sales cycles.

Nearly seven in 10 (68%) legal professionals feel they excel at helping Sales effectively close urgent deals, and more than half (56%) of enterprise employees acknowledge that Legal jumpstarts sales and revenue operations.

Legal, by its very nature and trade, is directed by precedents. Its main purpose is to provide risk mitigation and enterprise stability. However, as an authority figure and natural business protector, Legal also has the power to be an extraordinary change agent. Time, as they say, is money. And by examining processes and developing optimized, forward-thinking policies, Legal can accelerate business growth and revenue generation by securing deals faster so that more can be made.

2. Ignite an inclusive culture.

People are the heartbeat and lifeblood of an enterprise. Innovation and intelligent solutions require creativity, communication, and the collaboration that comes from clever and varied voices.

The right competencies on a team are also required for true and lasting accomplishment, but in this era of “the Great Resignation,” employee retention is proving a major issue. Half of all legal professionals (49%) believe recruitment and talent retention require improvement (49%), and more than one in three (35%) respondents point to a need for better workload planning for the sake of operational efficiency.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have consistently been linked to stronger work quality and competitive differentiation, and three in 10 legal professionals (29%) believe their companies are making DEI a priority in 2022. More than half (52%) also say they are increasing diversity via vendor partnerships, and in the United Kingdom especially, hiring practices are beginning to show incredible diversity. A more connected, values-driven culture can thaw the Iceberg Effect in a truly meaningful way.

3. Navigate the latest in tech.

In addition to hiring and retaining talented people, another necessary transformation for Legal to melt the Iceberg Effect and achieve material success is the integration of innovative technology, including contract lifecycle management (CLM), eBilling, and matter management tools that embrace automation, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI).

However, half of all legal teams globally deem their current technology insufficient (47%) and outdated (46%) – despite the desire to streamline inefficiencies and boost productivity.

So, what’s holding up Legal’s tech revolution? Nearly half (44%) of legal professionals admit their department is averse to change, 39% blame a lack of budget, and 25% say they simply do not have time to learn new technology. Perhaps most surprising, and simultaneously concerning, two-thirds (67%) feel executives are unsupportive of Legal’s modernization, even if it means providing better client service and customer experience.

Although finding and incorporating the right tech can be a challenge, identifying recurring pain points and wish lists, devising an enterprise-wide implementation plan, and working with an experienced partner — as well as ensuring data security, privacy compliance, and a best-practices cybersecurity response plan — can provide tremendous operational cost savings and efficiency.

Steering your enterprise towards greater success

Ignorance is rarely bliss. In the end, it is knowledge that is power.

By banking on collaborative partnerships and insights to accelerate sales cycles and generate topline revenue, procuring diverse service providers and vendors to build an inclusive culture, and dissipating the gap between “old school” legal practices with the introduction of modern digitalization, Legal can demonstrate a distinct impact on materiality and efficiency and further protect, promote, and elevate its brand.

Even more, Legal will melt the Iceberg Effect once and for all, extracting new opportunities to connect more deeply throughout the enterprise, delivering exceptional business acumen and innovation, and evolving into a true leader to support and inspire the next generation of law.

Read the ELR Report to learn more about how legal professionals view their relationships with internal clients in comparison to the image enterprise employees have of their legal departments.

Now is the perfect time to evolve Legal’s role and brand image for the path ahead. Here’s how to boldly do so, for the future of Legal and the growth of your business. 

When it comes to the relationship dynamic between Legal and the enterprise as a whole, an irrefutable Perception Paradox exists: While nearly four in five (78%) enterprise employees around the world* view Legal as stellar business protectors and good advisors, only one in four (27%) view Legal as a good business partner.

Corporate employees understand that Legal is just doing its job — and they believe Legal is doing it quite well. In the end, however, true success cannot be attained without inclusivity and collaboration.

Here are five opportunities for Legal to bridge gaps, improve alliances within the enterprise, and jumpstart greater overall impact on material growth, topline revenue generation, and bottom-line efficiency:

1. Evolve the Department of “No”: Although 22% ELR Report respondents consider Legal the “no” police, 48% believe that the department is actively trying to cut red tape, minimize bureaucracy, and help accelerate deal cycles. Legal can capitalize on this perception by making the conscious effort to modernize processes in ways that cultivate further flexibility and adaptation. By challenging legacy paradigms and replacing them with new structures and optimized processes, Legal can find itself asking “How can we help?” far more often than having to say no.
2. Spark Efficiency with Tech: The mainspring and linchpin of a modern legal department is its state-of-the-art technology. By working with corporate IT to drive the implementation and adoption of comprehensive enterprise legal management (ELM) and contract lifecycle management (CLM) solutions, Legal will not only maximize savings, increase operational efficiency, and enhance collaboration, but also introduce and leverage forward-thinking tools that can serve the entire enterprise.
3. Solve the Need for Speed: Artificial intelligence (AI) can provide this impact Legal needs to work both smarter and faster. With automation, Legal can help streamline workflows and integrate data-driven decision making into standard processes, distilling complex and lengthy tasks and enhancing speed by at least 25%. A bonus: When combined with ELM solutions, process automation was found to cut business operating costs by as much as 90%!
4. Bear the Torch for DEI: Most CEOs will tell you that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is of utmost importance to their organization. However, the perception among employee respondents is that much of what is said may not be translating to what is done as only 50% believe DEI is treated as a priority, and barely 25% believe that vendor diversity matters to the enterprise. But if Legal is a protector —and there is no greater purpose in the role of protector than sheltering the heartbeat of an enterprise, its people— this is a distinct advantage to embolden the department with new initiatives of respect, communication, and cooperation. That way, Legal becomes an advocate for empowering the outlooks and opinions of many divergent others, both in the workplace and world at large.
5. Bring the Insight: More than three out of four (76%) enterprise employees feel that Legal manages data security governance well. However, when it comes to security, there is no such thing as half secure or almost secure. Security needs to be 100%, or it simply isn’t secure. With Legal’s involvement in countless confidential and sensitive matters, and with most legal professionals being inherently strategic thinkers, it is a natural leap that this an opportunity for Legal to become more contributory to the company’s data analytics and protection. In doing so, Legal will become a more visible and even more valued business partner, ensuring both the physical protection and cybersecurity of its constituents.

Become the Hero Your Enterprise Needs

As poet Langston Hughes once remarked, “The only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it.” By aligning and partnering with corporate functions and anticipating how to meet ever-evolving needs, Legal will pivot the Perception Paradox. By championing open communication, resetting expectations, and holding the enterprise to forward-facing standards, Legal can transform its brand and perception on the way to creating a better future, having greater material impact for its businesses, and standing out not for the old reasons but the right ones.

Spark your revolution of evolution today by downloading ELR Report Chapter 1.

*The ELR Report is a third-party, multinational study of 4,000 enterprise employees and 500 corporate legal professionals across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany intended to showcase relationship dynamics and perceived image between corporate legal teams and enterprise organizations.

Bodhala is excited to announce the launch of Envision — a series of exclusive events in collaboration with our parent company Onit.

Starting with the first event June 21st in Chicago, Envision is an opportunity to meet the rest of the Onit family of companies, hear from product experts, and get a front-row seat to the next generation of innovation in legal tech.

Envision events are free to attend. Click here to register and learn more.

Attendees will also have the chance to network with peers in the Chicago area, and learn how they are working with Onit companies to achieve operational efficiency and build stronger connections between Legal and the rest of the business. 

By the end of the event, attendees will have a clear understanding of how to cost-efficiently and cost-effectively execute legal workflows, with help from Onit’s solutions purpose-built for contract lifecycle management, matter management, e-billing, spend management, analytics, and more.

Envision Chicago Details

Date: June 21, 2022

Location: Union League Club of Chicago – 65 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604

Agenda (All times CDT) 

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

• Lunch & Demos

1:10 – 3:30 PM (Keynotes)

• Corporate Legal’s Reputation in the Eyes of Internal Clients and Its Opportunity to Materially Impact Enterprise Growth, Topline Revenue, and Bottom Line Efficiency
• Evolving Expectations About Legal’s Business Impact: New Approaches That Connect Legal to the Enterprise Through Better Partnering and Workflows That Matter
• The Roadmap That Makes Legal Work Flow Faster and Smarter: The Next Generation of Automated, AI-driven ELM And CLM Solutions

3:30 – 4:05 PM (Roundtables)

• Session A — Connecting the Enterprise Through Data
• Session B — Top Challenges Solved by SimpleLegal’s Enhanced Reporting

4:15 – 4:55 PM (Roundtables)

• Session A —Rightsizing Contract Management
• Session B — Using Market Intelligence to Improve Business Outcomes

5:00 – 6:30 PM

• Evening Reception

Click here to register for Envision Chicago.

If you can’t make it to Chicago, you can meet us at a future Envision event later this year!

• Envision Los Angeles, CA — August 24, 2022
• Envision London, United Kingdom — September 20, 2022
• Envision Stuttgart, Germany — September 22, 2022
• Envision New York, NY — October 20, 2022

Stay tuned for updates and agendas for future Envision events!

To make the best decision on where to send your next big matter, you need the right data. That’s why we’ve added a brand new offering to Bodhala’s growing arsenal of benchmarking products: Matter Benchmarking. 

Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking is the first of its kind, providing unparalleled insights into what a matter costs, how many hours were worked, and a deep analysis of staffing and rates — down to the individual task or document. 

Rates will always play a critical role in understanding your costs. But when you peel back a few more layers of the onion, you will find there’s almost always more to the picture than meets the eye. Now with a single click, you can find out not just how many hours it took to create an important document — but also how many hours it should have taken, and how it should be staffed.  

Backed by Bodhala’s proprietary machine learning and AI, this first-to-market solution is truly groundbreaking. Let’s break it down (see what we did there?): 

Bodhala’s New Matter Similarity Model

To make this work, we built a completely new way of comparing matters. Our proprietary matter similarity model uses machine learning and natural language processing to identify similar matters from similar firms. Each pairing is given a similarity score of 1 to 100, indicating the strength of the match. 

The model uses over 10,000 different factors to identify similar matters. Plus, it’s smart – as more matters enter the system, it is constantly improving, identifying new pairings and rescoring old pairings. This ensures matters are always compared to the most relevant set of matters. 

Get Both Internal & Market Benchmarks

Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking compares your matters not just against similar matters from similar firms across the market, but also to your own internal panel. You may find that certain firms are much more efficient than others across your panel, but that the entire panel is far less efficient than the overall market for similar matters. 

Having both internal and market benchmarks provides you with a unique perspective on your current panel of firms. You can not only improve matter allocation on future matters but also make smarter decisions about how you manage your entire panel. 

Detailed Look at Rates & Hours

Every report breaks down both rates and hours by timekeeper level, comparing those rates and hours to both the market and your panel. Rates are only part of the picture so understanding how the matter was staffed, in addition to your rates, delivers true cost analysis. 

Drill Down Into Tasks & Documents 

Perhaps most exciting — and completely new — is Bodhala’s deep dive benchmarking on individual tasks and documents. Bodhala analyzes every matter, identifying key tasks and documents, and benchmarks those tasks against the market and your panel. 

Stop wondering how many hours that document should take to make — or if it should be handled by partners or associates. Bodhala’s Matter Benchmarking gives you the answers.

By combining rate and staffing analysis with market and panel benchmarks, Matter Benchmarking helps you understand the true “should cost” of upcoming matters while also supporting better matter allocation and panel management. 

Start simplifying your budgeting and counsel selection process today and sign up for a demo.