Legaltech News Article Features Onit as Key Player in PayPal’s Enterprise Legal Management Implementation

Onit was honored to be a key player in a recent Legaltech News article titled, “Management that Pays: A Look Inside PayPal’s ELM System Implementation.” The genesis of the article was at the 2017 CLOC Annual Legal Operations Institute in Las Vegas, where Onit and PayPal presented a session titled. “Next Generation Enterprise Legal Management (ELM): People. Process. Automation.” The speakers were Lauren Giammona, Director of Operations, Business Affairs & Legal at PayPal, and Eric M. Elfman, founder and CEO of Onit. It was Onit that ultimately provided the legal spend management solution for PayPal.

PayPal and Onit discussed how legal departments can provide “continuous” value to the company, drive operational improvements and allow employees to work in the systems they prefer. The session highlighted:

• The importance of process, workflow and collaboration
• How a business automation tool solves needs beyond e-billing and matter management
• Key benchmarks and metrics that drive innovation and transformation in legal operations

At the end of her portion of the presentation, Giammona left the CLOC attendees with seven key lessons to take away:

1. You are choosing a vendor, not just a tool. Seek a true partner. As Giammona said, “Where we are on the technology curve, I would say we’re fairly high, but there’s a ton more that we could be doing” with the help of a partner.
2. “Configuration” and “customization” are not interchangeable terms. The former is needed, but customization likely means not using the tool as it is meant to be used.
3. Know your tipping point, particularly “must have” versus “nice to have” technologies. “Everything starts with a must have, and we constantly find ourselves dialing back to what we need to do today.”
4. For a new technology, do a full-blown, hands-on Proof-of-Concept (POC), she said. PayPal requires hands on access for two weeks with a new tool, which Giammona said “so far exceeds what you learn in an RFP or demo.”
5. Opt for a tool that can grow with you. “You may not need to iterate more in document management… but in other areas you might. So leave yourself the runway.”
6. Don’t let the system define your metrics. She cautioned to spend the time up front to identify key metrics, reports and design to achieve goals before implementing a system, as it will allow the company to configure the tool to its needs from the start.
7. And finally, she said to always remember that legal operations is always a journey—keep learning: “It was certainly easier when I was starting out in legal operations; the expectations were lower. … Now it seems like the expectation is so high that you’re going to implement the perfect system each time.

To learn more about our legal e-billing and matter management solution or to schedule a demo, let us know when you are available for a quick conversation.