Brought to you by the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council 

Fewer in-house legal departments are making law firm diversity information a high priority when deciding to hire outside counsel.  17% in 2023 reported it as a high priority versus 23% in 2022, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute Law Department Operations. In addition, 39% reported in 2023 that their in-house functions had a diversity initiative in place compared to 47% in 2022. This apparent reduction in priority has more to do with a fast-changing and dynamic risk landscape and regulatory framework and less to do with D&I lessening as a priority. Indeed, the importance of D&I as a main source of talent attraction is not going away soon. So, how can legal departments provide ongoing efficiency in the operations of legal functions as the scope of their responsibilities expands, while at the same time continue to drive efficiency in outside counsel D&I metrics and reporting?  What tools are the most useful?  In this session, you will hear from two legal ops professionals on the innovative practices and tools they are using to ensure their D&I initiatives remain a high priority amongst an ever-increasing workload.   

Rates are still going up: the recent State of the Legal Market report from the Thomson Reuters Institute shows that negotiated rates rose 6% in 2023, for the fifth straight year of major increases. In-house counsel are responding with better tools and more data to manage spending.  Beyond that, some are aggressively moving work to smaller or cheaper firms. 

But how do you ensure that you’re getting quality work and consistent outcomes when increasing efficiency? And how do you manage the relationship with those big firms that are now getting a smaller piece of the pie, but still handling your most important, bet-the-business work? 

Join us for a webinar with Thomson Reuters that will discuss both what data-driven matter pricing looks like, and how to get there. An expert panel will cover: 

• Why RFPs are vital, and how to use them well. 
• How automation can help price individual matters consistently. 
• Introducing competition to drive cost and performance benefits. 
• Using spend and outcome data effectively. 
• Managing change within your department and with outside counsel. 
• Making clear comparisons among hourly rates, AFAs and other options. 

Presented by

This webinar will share the findings from an upcoming white paper produced by CLOC and Priori, as well as feature discussion with some of the legal operations professionals who participated in the white paper. You’ll learn about trends in how legal departments of all sizes are approaching legal spend and gain insights into their decision-making processes. 

Topics to be covered include a framework for prioritizing legal spend projects, key considerations for analyzing legal spend (such as internal resources and work assessment, legal technology and outside counsel and other external resources), and how departments consider these factors and make decisions that optimize spend. 

CLOC ReCharge Webinar Series – Strategy and Alignment Track Sponsored by Wolters Kluwer

Running your legal department like a business is dependent on setting effective goals, using data to measure yourself against these goals, and sharing the data to build consensus and direction. This is especially true for contracting – where legal departments sit at the intersection between organizational revenue growth and risk management. 

This session will focus on bridging the gap from simply gathering data to using it to set goals and guide action.  Ops leaders will tackle practical solutions to questions our peers face, such as: 

• What are the right contracting goals for your organization when it comes to balancing efficiency, revenue impact and risk -and who needs a seat at the table when we decide? 

• How do we align these goals to broader organizational OKRs? What is an OKR, and how does it apply to legal ops teams? 

• Are we staffed efficiently to support our contracting needs? How do we reduce the overall cost of transactions while maintaining quality and speed? 

• Where can we be less conservative and take on more risk in contracting? Where are we overly risky in contract negotiation and management and how do we reduce risk? 

• How do we improve contracting turn-around times? Are we meeting our SLAs? 

CLOC ReCharge Webinar Series – Strategy & Alignment Track Sponsored By:

CLOC ReCharge Webinar Series – Cultivating Strong Partnerships 

From culling examples, reviewing best practices, and on the ground experience, learn how to build and refine your company’s outside counsel engagement standards (business terms and conditions or “Standards”). Hear tips on how to obtain buy-in, levers to insert into your Standards, and how to keep them current.  

Key Benefits of Developing Your Standards: 

• Protection: covers the base requirements your company expects from firms 
• Time Saving: referenced and leveraged for all legal engagements 
• Cost Savings: provides the firm direction on tactical items (how to bill, permissible costs) 
• Strategic Alignment: issues guidance on major company initiatives (alternative fees, DE&I) 

Brought to you by the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council

The legal profession has a diversity problem. Per the ABA, only 38% of lawyers are women and only 19% are racially or ethnically diverse. This lack of diversity has negative consequences, both for the profession and for its clients. Diversity is both good for business and an integral part of corporate ESG goals. A study by McKinsey found that companies with a more diverse workforce are more likely to outperform their competitors financially.

A diverse workforce brings a wider range of perspectives and experiences, leading to better decision-making. It is also more likely to be innovative and creative and more likely to attract and retain top talent. In addition to being good for business, DEI initiatives help meet corporate ESG goals. These ESG goals will extend into both legal departments and their outside law firms. Legal operations professionals have an opportunity to lead the way with DEI goals for both internal legal departments and outside law firms. A diverse legal department is more likely to be successful and help with risk management and mitigation by including a broad range of perspectives to reduce blind spots.

Externally, it is imperative that corporate legal operations groups hold their majority-owned outside law firms accountable for DEI initiatives and goals. This can be done by requiring law firms to meet certain criteria, such as: implementing a supplier diversity program, utilizing diverse-owned law firms for conflict counsel, requiring diverse timekeepers on matters, providing additional training to diverse associates, and requiring diverse attorneys to inherit client relationships. Increasing DEI in the legal profession is essential for the future of the profession. This panel discussion will provide a valuable opportunity to discuss the importance of DEI and learn tactics that legal operations professionals can use to move the needle on diversity in the legal profession.

CLOC ReCharge Webinar Series – Optimization & Efficiency

This presentation will focus on how to harness, measure, and present legal department data in order to tell the story of the legal department, both within the department itself and outside of it, through data-informed dashboards.  

We will discuss: 

• How to capture and measure data for commonly tracked key performance indicators, such as matter counts, cycle times, and workload balancing

• How to turn harnessed data into dashboards and how to use those dashboards to make business decisions

• Cautions and pitfalls of using data as a storytelling device

**Please note, that this webinar is scheduled to accommodate our audience in the Oceania region, on February 1, 2024, at 1 p.m. AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) which is January 31, 2024, at 6 p.m. PST (Pacific Standard Time). If you cannot attend the live webinar, it will be recorded and sent to all registrants.

Struggling with inefficient contract processes and missed business opportunities? You’re not alone. Research from EY found 99% of organisations want to reduce contracting costs, but with scores of contracts in motion each week, who’s actually responsible for making it happen? 

This webinar delves into the critical need for alignment between people, process, and technology to achieve a successful contracting transformation. We’ll explore: 

• The hidden costs of inefficient contracting. 
• Identifying clear ownership and responsibilities for contracting processes. 
• Leveraging the right tools and resources to optimise workflows and reduce costs. 
• Aligning your transformation strategy with data-driven insights and actionable solutions. 

Hear our panel of legal thought leaders discuss: 

• Real-world examples of organisations achieving contracting success through effective alignment. 
• Practical frameworks for allocating ownership and responsibilities within your contracting team. 
• Technology insights to identify the right tools for automating tasks and improving visibility. 
• Actionable strategies for implementing immediate improvements to reduce risk and driving long-term value. 

Don’t let contracting chaos hold you back.  

Register now and learn how to align your people, process, and technology for a streamlined, cost-effective, and successful contracting operation.

You’ve done the work, have a tech roadmap in place, and are now looking to put those plans in action in 2024.   This session will delve into critical aspects of a successful roadmap implementation, including: change management, the delicate balance between process alignment and technology integration, and the art of prioritization. Join Jennifer Mattson, Associate Vice President of Legal Operations at Nationwide, Stacy Lettie, Chief of Staff to the General Counsel at Organon, and Jeff Solomon, VP and GM, LegalVIEW BillAnalyzer  to hear strategies, best practices, and real-world examples to help guide you through the successful execution of your tech roadmap.