In March, CLOC Netherlands launched the Legal Ops Impact Series in Amsterdam, spearheaded by regional co-leads Antonello Gargano, Head of Legal Operations & Strategy Execution and Chief of Staff at ASML, and Sean Houston, Head of Legal Operations at Heineken.
The event brought together professionals from across the legal ecosystem to discuss the changing relationship between in-house teams and outside counsel. The session featured a diverse panel, including leaders from in-house departments, law firms, legal technology providers, consultants, and alternative legal service providers (ALSPs).
This mix helped the group break down traditional silos and encouraged an open dialogue that addressed the structural shifts facing the profession and what to expect on the road ahead.
“Our main goal is to elevate the role of legal operations from an operational function to a strategic component,” said Gargano. “By putting these different players on the same stage and having a conversation at the same level without hierarchy, we create a superpower for the community.”
The New Value Infrastructure: From Legal Opinion to Validation
A central theme from the discussion was the adoption of an “AI-first” approach within legal departments. Gargano noted that technology has shifted the primary role of outside counsel from being providers of legal opinions to being “validators” for risk management.
“I don’t necessarily need the [legal] opinion itself anymore,” Gargano explained. “I can get an opinion from a tool like Harvey that is as good as, or better than, half of the opinions I get from outside counsel. What I need now is ‘super-validation.’ I need that professional stamp to manage the risk.”
The group openly and cordially discussed the future of law firm business models amid quickly shifting technology capabilities and expectations.
“The hourly rate model has to change,” added Houston. “If technology can do 95% of what we need, we aren’t paying for an hour of time; we are paying for the insurance on the outcome. Law firm phones might stop ringing for the manual work, and we have to be diligent financial stewards of our resources.”
Legal Operations as a Strategic Center
As in the U.S., legal operations in Europe is moving away from being a support or administrative function and rapidly becoming an epicenter that provides guidance to the enterprise and manages a complex ecosystem.
Gargano emphasized that legal ops should lead outside counsel management by building the necessary infrastructure and governance models. Part of this stewardship involves moving high-volume legal work away from high-priced law firms toward contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools, AI-driven workflows, or lower-cost ALSPs.
“Legal has historically hidden behind the ‘we are different’ excuse to avoid the digital transformation that finance and other functions went through decades ago,” Houston said. “But it simply can’t hide anymore. It’s changing because it has to.”
Addressing the Talent and Training Gap
The automation of manual legal work creates a new challenge: the training of future professionals. If entry-level legal work disappears, the industry must find new ways to train the next generation of lawyers.
Fortunately, this shift also provides opportunities for a new type of professional. Legal operations then becomes an even more durable function that offers significant growth for both lawyers and those without traditional legal training.
Legal ops sits at the intersection of technology, project management, and legal reasoning. Educational institutions have begun to recognize this as well. For example, the University of Amsterdam Law School now offers a master’s degree in technology governance, and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences has a master’s degree program in legal technology.
Growth Across Mainland Europe
The gap in legal operations maturity between the U.S. and mainland Europe is shrinking. While the U.S. previously led the field, European companies and startups have quickly advanced to the forefront of innovation. Startups like Legora in Sweden, LegalFly in Belgium, and BRYTER in Germany are driving change across the continent.
Local innovation was also on display at the AI House Amsterdam innovation hub at the offices of Prosus. Houston noted that a recent event also showcased multiple AI agents that were built internally by one company’s legal team.
“I’ve been on the ground here [in Amsterdam] for five years, and I can tell you the gap is closing,” said Houston. “Whether you have the deep history of a more than 150-year-old company like Heineken or you’re a brand-new startup, the level of technical sophistication we are seeing now would have been unheard of even two years ago.”
Looking Ahead: Lexpo 2026
The success of the first event in the CLOC Netherlands Legal Ops Impact Series highlights the value of the CLOC community. But the conversation that started in Amsterdam is only the beginning. As the legal ecosystem continues to grapple with these structural shifts, the community will reconvene in June at Lexpo, the Continental Europe Legal Innovation Event.
We are proud to support Rob Ameerun, founder of Lexpo, in his mission to provide a platform where “innovation meets the traditional legal world.” Lexpo continues to be the premier destination for legal professionals to see these technologies in action and discuss the future of the business of law.
Don’t miss the next chapter of this transformation. Join CLOC and the wider legal ops community at Lexpo to continue the dialogue.
