Category: Company News and Events

Listen to Onit’s CEO Eric M. Elfman Discuss 2019 Milestones

It’s time again for another stimulating Onit podcast! In this episode, Onit’s CEO and founder Eric M. Elfman discusses the company’s amazing milestone achievements attained in 2019.

Eric starts by offering a birds-eye view of Onit’s stellar growth in 2019. The company’s revenue grew 75% over 2018, and recurring revenue grew a whopping 68 percent. According to Eric, the acquisition of SimpleLegal was the most exciting milestone of the year. It was our first acquisition and signifies the beginning of Onit’s plan to “integrate companies into the whole.”

Eric then speaks a bit about what he thinks of the legal operations market, explaining that Onit is poised to take advantage of two key themes. One theme is a sharp focus on process and how we can help lawyers and paralegals be more efficient. The other theme is “platform,” meaning that we need to get more features, functionality and products out of fewer vendors, so there are less failure points in integration.

Eric goes on to comment on what it is that customers can expect from Onit. “2020 will be the year of the customer,” he says, pointing out that superior implementations, delivery, support and expansion are all part of the recipe. “In fact,” he says, “we’re developing two more products that in 2021 will become the next CLM product.” Eric also mentions that his mission as a company is to deliver one brand new product in an entirely new market each year.

In closing, Eric explained what keeps him up at night. You’ll have to listen to the podcast but he did say that running a large, complex company will only continue to get bigger and more complex!

Legaltech 2020 – Demos, Dining, Drinks and maybe even Dancing with Onit!

What do Mardi Gras, Mediterranean and Modern Technology have in common? They’ll all be featured in Onit’s lineup of activities at Legaltech 2020! Like last year, Onit will be fully energized and busy at Legaltech NY. The New York Hilton Midtown will be bustling with activity, and Onit doesn’t intend to sit on the sidelines.

Onit will be stationed on the third floor near the show registration desks. Here, you’ll find the Onit and SimpleLegal Smart Charge Station, and have the opportunity to see demos of our cutting-edge process automation solutions for enterprise legal management, contracts, legal service request and more. You can learn more about our recent launch of Onit Contract Lifecycle Management, as well as our acquisition of SimpleLegal.

You won’t want to miss this: Onit will be hosting a thought-provoking session titled “Career Up! LegalOps for eDiscovery Professionals & Tech Wonky Attorneys” in the Legal Operations Technology and Emerging Trends Track on February 5 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. This session features our own Paige Edwards moderating a discussion between legal operations professionals from Prudential, Toyota and Purdue Pharma. The session will cover career statistics and trends in the legal operations job market, certifications and degrees that matter most, salary guidelines and business of law implications.

And it doesn’t end there. Join Onit, SimpleLegal and NetDocuments for an early Mardi Gras happy hour on February 4 a few blocks from the show at the Dream Hotel for great jazz, cocktails and light bites. The party will get started at our booths during the Legaltech opening reception at 5:00 p.m. and carry on to the Dream Hotel. Get Details and Register here

We also invite you to join an exclusive dinner for in-house legal leaders, co-hosted with Consilio. Enjoy cocktails and a seated dinner at an acclaimed Mediterranean hotspot two blocks from the show. Seats are very limited so request yours today! You can email us at [email protected] or request a seat here.

Last but not least, please schedule time for an Onit demo in our private demo room away from the exhibit hall floor to take a deeper dive into how Onit products can help your legal department better manage legal work, costs and risks. The schedule is nearly full so don’t wait! Request a time slot here.

Onit Named a Top 25 Legal Vendor for 2020

We’re excited to announce that Onit and our sister company, SimpleLegal were both named a Top 25 Legal Vendor for the 2020 OnCon Awards!

The OnCon Icon awards recognize the top professionals and vendors in the world in the areas of marketing, human resources, and legal. The OnCon Icon Award winners are determined by more than 4,500 peer-to-peer votes.

“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as an award winner, as the selection is based off of peer recognition of performance, impact, and contributions. Winners represent many of the most senior leaders from the world’s top organizations. Company winners represent the best vendors as determined by the end user,” commented Sean Tomarelli, Founder & CEO at OnConferences.

Click here to see Onit’s listing.

Onit Announces 2020 Training Schedule

Here at Onit, we have established ourselves as a leading provider of innovative software products for the legal industry. Our organization and global market share have grown exponentially over the last couple of years through strategic investments and successful acquisitions. As we continue this exponential rise in customers, end-users, and partners, our primary focus and vision remain the same, the support and service of our customers. At Onit we pride ourselves on our ability to arm our customers, new and existing, with the ability to not only use our products to their fullest potential but to ensure they are utilizing them in ways that fit their business needs and maximize adoption, productivity and ROI. We employ teams of industry thought leaders and software experts that teach proper business processes, techniques, and best practices throughout various disciplines and how to utilize our software to support those processes.

Today, we are excited to announce that we have rolled out our new training schedule for 2020! There are three training tracks: Apptitude, Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM). The Apptitude track offers courses for Apptitude developers. Within the ELM and CLM tracks are courses that are in either the technical or non-technical lanes, depending on whether you are an Apptitude developer or project manager. All tracks consist of four certification levels.

Whatever your role, and whether you’re a valued Onit customer or partner, attaining formal Onit credentials demonstrates to the world that you have the knowledge and skills to transform business processes using the Onit platform. Our formal certification program provides an easy-to-navigate framework for both securing and quantifying your Onit expertise.

Here are the upcoming courses that we have posted on our training calendar. If you find an upcoming course that you’d like to attend, sign up on our registration page.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out directly or send an email to [email protected].

Legal Department Operations Survey 2019 Results are Out

Onit is once again a sponsor of the Legal Department Operations (LDO) Survey. In its 12th year, this survey is the leading barometer for trends in legal operations. Onit Founder & CEO, Eric M. Elfman, contributed an article to the survey results package. Please read that article below and download the full survey results here.

Driving Disruption in the Legal Department: Legal Ops and Technology Lead the Way
By Eric Elfman

Legal operations is all about optimizing the legal department’s ability to grow and protect the company it serves. As such, legal departments are seeking a higher level of operational excellence. This is evidenced by their embrace of innovation, increased demand for automation of repetitive tasks and a workflow-centric approach and understanding of how to use technology to create operational wins.

Driving efficiencies and containing costs are two key reasons that legal operations is important and is growing so quickly. Legal departments were forced to adopt a more operationally focused mindset as a result of the Great Recession. The 2008 downturn was so severe, and efficiency and cost-cutting were considered so critical to the survival of the business at large, that it was no longer acceptable to spend freely. Since then, C-suites have increasingly been making their law departments behave more like other business units. This ultimately led to the rise of a profession dedicated to bringing business discipline to the law department: legal operations.

Legal department operations professionals (LDOs) handle the management of vendors, systems, strategic planning, technology, knowledge, financial issues and the myriad other tasks that plague the legal department. Legal operations are all about optimizing the legal department’s ability to support the business and is a multi-disciplinary function that optimizes legal services delivery by focusing on twelve core competencies. The competencies, developed by CLOC, are divided among three levels: foundational, advanced and mature.

Cost control and cost management have always been among the legal department’s greatest challenges. Economic downturns in recent decades served to exacerbate the “do less with more” mindset. In order to meet these intensifying challenges, many departments began increasing the workload of existing resources or bringing on more in-house lawyers. Others have built and started executing technology roadmaps. Technology has been optimizing legal operations in several key areas. Workflow and automation of processes deserve a spot at the top of the list. Data analytics is also important, as analytics can demonstrate the value of technology in the department and the value of the legal department to the business. Technology is assisting with the competitive bidding process on certain types of cases. Automating many routine tasks can shave hours off any busy schedule. Collaboration using  technology gives a whole new meaning to “working together.”

Today’s state-of-the-art technology allows all stakeholders from anywhere in the world – including legal departments, other service providers, and members of the corporation’s accounting team and business units – to be on a single platform. Technology will increasingly play a prominent role, as more LDOs are discovering they can better fulfill their mission by leveraging well-chosen technology solutions to automate processes, track legal spend and deliver key decision-ready information. The increasingly robust alliance of legal ops and technology is now helping to forge the future of legal operations in amazing ways we could never have imagined a decade ago. Onit purpose-built our technology platform to help drive this alliance and enables customers to execute their technology roadmaps over time.

Interested? Request a demo now!

A Busy October and November for Onit

Onit has been quite busy the last couple of months (which is nothing new for us). Besides our daily mission of creating cutting-edge enterprise workflow solutions, here are a few other things we’ve been up to.

Onit and SimpleLegal Host a Webinar

Onit and SimpleLegal hosted a webinar, The Future of Legal Operations: Market Trends, Change Management and Predictions.  As a part of this webinar, legal industry leaders Eric M. Elfman, CEO of Onit, and Nathan Wenzel, CEO of SimpleLegal, and leading Legal, Risk and Compliance Analyst, Ryan O’Leary of IDC presented on the evolution and future of legal operations and discussed how chief legal officers and legal operations professionals are digitally transforming the industry with process efficiencies, technology and change management.

Strategic Alliance Between PERSUIT and Onit

Onit partnered with PERSUIT, a process automation platform for engaging outside legal counsel, following the launch of Onit’s Strategic Alliances Program. Read the Press Release

Onit Claims Position #249 on Deloitte’s Tech Fast 500

Onit again ranked on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Onit recorded growth of 441% percent during this period and came in at #249. Read the Press Release

Onit Moderates Session at Corporate Legal Ops Forum

Onit moderated a session titled Emerging Trends in Legal Operations at the Consero Corporate Legal Ops Forum in Florida. Panelists included legal operations professionals from Prudential, McDonald’s, Morgan Stanley, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Jabil Circuit. Read More

Strategic Alliance Between Duff & Phelps and Onit

Duff & Phelps has become Onit’s first Strategic Alliances partner with level 4 certified resources. A global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients, Duff & Phelps has 22 Onit-experienced resources, 16 of which are Onit certified. The Onit and Duff & Phelps relationship extends beyond the United States into EMEA, where they are one of Onit’s leading implementation partners. Read the Press Release

Strategic Alliances Program Launch

Onit unveiled its new Strategic Alliances Program. This program is Onit’s premier initiative to establish and support external alliances that promote growth and success for our clients and partners; the principles of which are strategy, transparency, accountability and rigor. This remarkable new program addresses the needs of not only Onit’s trusted partners, but of our clients as well. Read the Press Release

Onit CEO Eric M. Elfman Wins the Rice Business Alumni Award

Onit CEO Eric M. Elfman won the Rice Business Alumni Award. This prestigious honor was bestowed on just six individuals this year. Eric won in the category of Industry Excellence in Technology. Read More

Onit Participates in the ACC Annual Meeting

Onit participated in the ACC Annual Meeting in Phoenix, October 27 – 30th. There were opportunities to see demos of our solutions, and learn more about the recently launched Onit Contract Lifecycle Management product. Subscribe to the Blog for Alerts about Future Events

Onit Holds Second Customer Forum of 2019

This year’s second Onit Customer Forum was held November 5-7 in Houston. This is a bi-annual event designed to foster collaboration and learning among peers. Onit’s customer community is focused on sharing best practices and driving innovation. Attendees heard case studies from customers in a variety of industries and received the latest updates on product roadmaps and strategy. Request an invitation to the next forum by emailing [email protected]

 

Onit’s CEO Eric M. Elfman Wins Rice Business Alumni Award

We are excited to announce that Onit’s CEO and co-founder, Eric M. Elfman, has won the Rice Business Alumni Award! This prestigious honor was bestowed on just six individuals this year. Eric won in the category of Industry Excellence in Technology.

Eric’s award profile reads in part “His career shifted to a focus in technology and he founded DataCert, Inc., a spend management software and services company. Under his leadership, DataCert grew from a small, entrepreneurial organization to a leading provider of corporate legal technology. Eric also co-founded Onit, a legal project management software company that specializes in solutions that simplify business process automation and productivity. Over his career, Eric and his companies have been recipients of numerous high-profile awards and distinctions, such as the 2002 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Emerging Technology, Four-time Inc. 500 Listing, and Multiple-year Inc. 5000 Listing. In addition, Eric currently serves as a member on the Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.”

Established by the Jones Graduate School Alumni Association (JGSAA), the Rice Business Alumni Awards annually recognize alumni for outstanding achievements in their professional fields and exemplary leadership. Recipients of these awards embody our four pillars of alumni engagement: community, philanthropy, volunteering and life-long learning. This means that when reviewing nominations, the selection committee took into special consideration those alumni who exemplify and consistently engage in supporting their communities through networking, philanthropy, volunteering and a demonstrated passion for learning.

Read more about Eric’s win.

Onit Honored to be a Deloitte North America Technology Fast 500 Winner

Onit is excited to announce that we ranked #249 on Deloitte’s 2019 North America Technology Fast 500, an annual ranking of the fastest-growing North American companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and energy tech sectors. Onit attained this high ranking by achieving an astonishing 441% growth over the past three years.

“The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is a list that every company like Onit strives to be on,” says Eric M. Elfman, CEO of Onit. “This achievement is a major source of pride for me, and is indicative of all the hard work of our team members over the past several years. This is a significant milestone for Onit and validates our strategy to be highly focused on our customers, partners and products.”

Winners are selected based on percentage fiscal-year revenue growth over a three-year period. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company’s operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years, and be headquartered within North America.

Over the past quarter century, the Fast 500 program has honored nearly 6,000 companies across North America. Overall, the 2019 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 166% to 37,458% over the three-year time frame, with a median growth rate of 439%.

Click here to learn more about the Technology Fast 500.

Thought Leaders from Onit and SimpleLegal to Host Webinar on the Future of Legal Operations

Onit and SimpleLegal will be hosting a webinar, The Future of Legal Operations: Market Trends, Change Management and Predictions, November 20 at 12:00 p.m. CST.

As a part of this webinar, legal industry leaders Eric M. Elfman, CEO of Onit, Nathan Wenzel, CEO of SimpleLegal, and leading Legal, Risk and Compliance Analyst, Ryan O’Leary of IDC will present on the evolution and future of legal operations and discuss how chief legal officers and legal operations professionals are digitally transforming the industry with process efficiencies, technology and change management. The webinar will highlight:

  • The rise of the legal operations industry and how legal operations professionals can be agents of change
  • Market trends and the evolving legal technology landscape – and why it is critical for legal operations to be successful
  • The essential tool kit for companies looking to invest in legal operations
  • Predictions for the future of legal operations

Read the press release.

Join Onit and Our Customers in Phoenix for ACC 2019!

These are not ordinary times. It’s imperative for you to take your practice and your department to a bold, new level. Learn from and network with in-house lawyers on complex legal and regulatory challenges, constant geopolitical change, cyber risk, and the need to help drive business strategy. Attend the Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, the world’s largest gathering of in-house counsel to stay ahead, connected, and indispensable.

Onit invites our customers and other members of the ACC community to engage with us in booth 332 during and after the ACC Annual Meeting in Phoenix, October 27 – 30th. There are opportunities to see demos of our solutions, learn more about the recently launched Onit Contract Lifecycle Management (Onit CLM) and mingle with us, our partners and fellow in-house legal leaders at some of the most exciting venues around the convention center. Schedule time in our private exhibit hall demo room to take a deeper dive into how Onit solutions can help your legal department better manage legal work, costs and risks.

Cool off and get down at the happiest of ACC Happy Hours! Join us on Monday a few blocks from the show at Little Rituals, a top-rated bar with some of the best cocktails in town. Be a part of our exclusive dinner, co-hosted with Consilio, to enjoy rooftop cocktails and a seated dinner at one of the most innovative kitchens in Phoenix. Click here to learn more and RSVP.

In addition, this is a great opportunity to hear Onit customers speak about inspiring and relevant topics. You can hear them at the sessions listed below. Onit is proud that our customers are so well-represented as thought leaders at ACC!

SESSION TITLE DATE AND TIME
304 – You Can Design: Practical Application of Design Thinking in the Legal Department 10/28/19 14:30
301 – 2019 ACC Value Champion Series (I): Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, and Predictability in eDiscovery 10/28/19 14:30
903 – Boot Camp for Leaders of Early-Stage, Dedicated Legal Operations Functions 10/30/19 8:30
902 – Boot Camp for Leaders of Early-Stage, Dedicated Legal Operations Functions 10/30/19 8:30
305 – Benchmarking Third-Party Intermediary Interview Processes: Taking Interviews to the Next Level 10/28/19 14:30
204 – Discussion and Demonstration on How AI Is Changing the Litigation Landscape 10/28/19 11:45
701 – Growing In-house Pro Bono 10/29/19 14:30
905 – Innovation and Regulatory Change in Highly-Regulated Industries-Your Role as In-house Counsel 10/30/19 9:00
901 – Boot Camp for Leaders of Early-Stage, Dedicated Legal Operations Functions 10/30/19 8:30
302 – Gender Relations: Effective Strategies for Promoting Gender and Pay Equality in the #MeToo Era 10/28/19 14:30
203 – Choose Your Own Ethics Adventure: Navigating the ESI Crisis When Your Adversaries Target Information Governance Practices 10/28/19 11:45
314 – Uncovering and Acting Upon Trade Secrets Theft 10/28/19 14:30
908 – What Every In-house Counsel Needs to Know About Global Intellectual Property 10/30/19 9:00
111 – Interactions with the Government When a Problem Arises Internally 10/29/19 10:00
310 – Consumer Litigation in Emerging Global Markets 10/28/19 14:30
401 – 2019 ACC Value Champion Series (II): The Power of Partnering and Success Alignment: Applying Lean and Better Pricing Models 10/28/19 16:30
813 – Lost in Translation: Cross-Border M&A Deal Killers 10/29/19 16:30
611 – What Every In-house Counsel Needs to Know About Bankruptcy Risk for the Next Economic Downturn 10/29/19 11:00
603 – Patent Portfolio Strategy Using Recent Landscape Trends 10/29/19 11:00
814 – What’s Keeping Board Members Up at Night? 10/29/19 16:30
202 – Choose Your Own Ethics Adventure: Navigating the ESI Crisis When Your Adversaries Target Information Governance Practices 10/28/19 11:45
CR-100 – Practical Contracting: Re-engineering the Contract Process to Do More with Less 10/28/19 10:00
504 – Greasing the Wheels: Negotiating and Overcoming Deal Friction in Tech Contracts 10/29/19 9:30

Last but not least, here are seven more reasons to be at ACC this year:

  1. Your future success. In these uncertain times, it’s vital for you to invest in your future and elevate your practice and law department to a new standard of excellence.
  2. The right subject matter. This year’s bold, new conference is packed with practical, interactive, and engaging adult learning formats — sessions, workshops, and roundtables that will help you and your colleagues from around the world dig deep into critical subject matters.
  3. Expert presenters. Hear directly from an impressive group of legal industry thought leaders.
  4. Unparalleled networking. Exchange ideas and share experiences with thousands of your colleagues from around the globe with 30+ hours of networking events.
  5. Solutions. Get up-to-the-minute information from 100+ law firms and legal service providers.
  6. CLE/CPD credit. Get the professional development you need and earn up to a year’s worth of CLE/CPD credits.
  7. The Phoenix Experience.  Bask in near-perpetual sunshine. Jaw-dropping sunsets paint the desert sky nightly. And the Phoenix Convention Center sits in the middle of a walkable downtown filled with independent restaurants, craft brewpubs, and live-music venues.

Click here to learn more about ACC 2019.