Legal
ops
professionals
are
gaining
significant
seats
at
in-house
and
even
C-Suite
tables.
They
come
with
management
efficiencies,
business
principles,
and
a
goal
to
change
the
practice
for
the
better.
But
it
sounds
like
outside
counsel
may
be
turning
a
deaf
ear.
One
of
the
more
interesting
and
timely
sessions
at
the
CLOC
conference
this
week
was
entitled,
What
Do
Law
Firms
Still
Not
Understand
about
Legal
Ops.
It
was
facilitated
by
Emily
Stedman,
who
herself
is
a
commercial
litigation
partner
in
a
well-known
firm,
Husch
Blackwell.
But
it
was
really
an
audience
discussion
session
under
CLOC’s
heading
“community
conversations,”
where
the
audience
was
invited
to
provide
comments
and
insights.
And
the
audience
was
primarily
made
up
of
in-house
legal
ops
professionals.
It
was
timely
because
more
and
more,
in-house
legal
departments
and
the
C-suite
will
be
looking
to
apply
business
principles
to
how
their
outside
lawyers
handle
and
manage
matters.
Which
of
course
is
what
legal
ops
is
all
about.
Does
Outside
Counsel
Have
an
Attitude?
I
wasn’t
sure
what
I
was
going
to
hear.
My
instinct
was
that
too
many
firms,
and
lawyers
for
that
matter,
seem
to
think
it’s
business
as
usual
and
that
they
can
continue
to
do
things
without
a
working
knowledge
of
what
legal
ops
is
and
what
legal
ops
professionals
do.
One
piece
of
evidence:
like
usual,
very
few
practicing
lawyers
are
at
the
CLOC
conference.
Which
is
funny
since
not
only
is
the
conference
an
opportunity
to
learn
more
about
legal
ops
and
what
their
clients
are
thinking,
it
would
give
outside
counsel
access
to
legal
ops
professionals
in
big
companies
who
often
play
a
role
in
counsel
selection
and
management.
Without
that
knowledge,
you
have
to
wonder
how
outside
counsel
can
hope
to
be
ready
for
what’s
coming.
Particularly
as
AI
enables
greater
speed
and
efficiencies,
the
impact
of
legal
ops
will
only
increase.
And
of
course,
there
were
no
outside
lawyers
in
the
session
on
what
they
should
know
about
a
discipline
that
is
more
and
more
prominent
in
the
legal
landscape.
Why
was
this
my
instinct?
Traditionally
outside
lawyers
have
viewed
in-house
legal
departments
as
frankly
a
pain.
There
was
an
air
of
arrogance
and
superiority
about
in-house
legal
teams:
they
can’t
possibly
know
more
than
me
about
how
to
handle
a
matter.
The
thinking
is,
because
of
my
skill
and
expertise,
I’m
running
the
show.
And
that
attitude
would
go
double
for
the
“non-lawyer”
legal
ops
professionals.
I
know.
I’ve
seen
it.
On
the
other
hand,
I
held
out
some
hope
that
this
attitude
and
lack
of
collaboration
was
a
relic
of
a
bygone
era.
Unfortunately,
based
on
the
comments
I
heard,
it
still
prevails.
And
the
Audience
Says
The
discussion
was
started
with
a
story
by
an
audience
member
about
telling
a
partner
in
her
outside
law
firm
she
was
coming
to
a
legal
ops
conference.
His
response:
“What
does
legal
ops
entail?”
That
lack
of
knowledge
both
about
legal
ops
and
what
in-house
legal
wants
of
outside
counsel
permeated
the
discussion.
An
opening
question
to
the
audience
revealed
this
in
spades:
What
do
outside
counsel
know
or
not
know
about
legal
ops?
The
first
hand
went
up
and
shouted
out:
that
it
exists!
But
it
went
beyond
that:
audience
members
offered
that
outside
counsel
need
to
understand
that
legal
ops
can
and
do
help
with
the
delivery
of
legal
service.
They
need
to
understand
the
scope
of
what
they
are
being
asked
to
do,
the
budget
constraints
in-house
legal
face,
and
the
timelines
in-house
is
dealing
with.
All
of
these
are
pressures
in-house
counsel
the
legal
ops
team
deal
with
daily.
And:
outside
counsel
never
even
ask
about
the
in-house
legal
ops
team
and
how
they
can
help
them
navigate
the
matter
to
conclusion.
Audience
members
pointed
out
that
outside
counsel
still
do
not
try
to
efficiently
use
their
resources
to
provide
service
at
a
lower
cost.
They
don’t
make
use
of
alternative
resources
among
those
who
may
not
be
lawyers.
They
don’t
follow
outside
counsel
guidelines.
They
don’t
involve
their
internal
pricing
teams.
There
is
a
lack
of
transparency.
They
don’t
get
bills
and
budgets
in
on
time
and
be
sure
they
are
right.
One
audience
member
said
she
was
just
emailing
her
outside
counsel
during
the
session
about
something
and
he
immediately
tried
to
upsell
her
on
something
else.
Her
response:
I
just
ran
the
“something
else”
through
AI
and
already
have
the
answer.
Which
of
course
the
outside
lawyer
could
have
done.
Heads
nodded
and
eyes
rolled.
When
it
comes
to
RFPs,
simple
things
like
providing
representative
experience
when
responding
are
ignored.
Instead,
firms
provide
300
pages
glorifying
what
the
firm
and
its
members
had
done
that
has
little
relevance
and
is
self-serving.
Respond
in
the
way
the
RFP
asks
for:
if
it
wants
stuff
in
Excel,
do
it.
Follow
instructions.
One
other
thing
that
was
telling:
the
audience
was
asked,
what
do
outside
counsel
do
right?
Silence.
Then
the
answers
jumped
right
back
to
what
the
audience
wished
their
outside
lawyers
would
do
better.
All
this
from
a
30-minute
program.
But
it
pretty
well
paints
the
picture
of
still
existing
great
divide
between
in-house
legal
and
outside
counsel.
It
was
like
stepping
back
in
time
20
years.
Granted,
the
discussion
implicitly
encouraged
a
gripe
session.
And
it’s
easy
to
focus
on
the
negative
in
a
discussion
like
this.
But
even
so,
what
I
heard
was
true
frustration
by
those
who
have
a
big
say
in
how
things
are
handled
and
who
gets
hired.
Want
To
Succeed
in
the
Future?
Embrace
Legal
Ops
Sadly,
lots
of
lawyers
will
read
all
this
and
conclude
big
deal,
no
one’s
making
me
change.
I’m
pretty
indispensable.
I
got
news
for
you:
you’re
not.
Not
when
over
2,000
legal
ops
professionals
gather
every
year
with
the
sole
goal
to
expand
their
influence
and
the
services
they
provide.
All
to
better
enable
in-house
legal
and
the
C-suite
to
manage
legal
expenses
and
get
better
results.
It’s
gotten
trite
to
say
that
future
successful
firms
will
harness
the
AI
tools
and
use
them
to
serve
clients.
But
that’s
only
a
portion
of
the
overall
key
to
success.
AI
is
only
one
part
of
what
legal
ops
will
use
to
better
serve
their
clients,
the
businesses
they
serve.
What
we
really
should
be
saying
is
that
the
future
successful
firms
will
embrace
legal
ops,
will
hire
legal
ops
professionals,
and
show
up
at
conferences
like
CLOC
to
hear
what’s
really
going
on
with
your
clients
and
where
they
are
going.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger,
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.