In-house
legal
teams
are
under
pressure
like
never
before.
Budgets
are
tight.
Headcount
is
frozen.
Business
partners
expect
faster
turnaround.
And
leadership
wants
Legal
to
deliver
all
of
this
while
“doing
more
with
less.”
So,
where
do
many
teams
look
for
relief?
Legal
tech.
Generative
AI.
Automation.
But
here’s
the
catch:
most
legal
tech
rollouts
stall.
Not
because
the
tools
don’t
work,
but
because
the
people
implementing
them
are
underwater,
and
the
systems
they’re
trying
to
fix
weren’t
designed
for
clarity
in
the
first
place.
As
Maryam
Salehijam
explained
in
a
recent
episode
of
“Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self,”
“You
really
cannot
talk
about
AI
and
legal
technology
to
an
in-house
legal
team
that’s
already
burning
out.”
She’s
right.
And
one
of
the
biggest
sources
of
that
burnout?
Contracting.
Watch
the
full
interview
here:
The
Real
Blocker
Isn’t
The
Tech
—
It’s
The
Contracts
If
you’ve
ever
tried
to
implement
CLM,
launch
a
new
playbook,
or
standardize
templates,
you
know
this
firsthand.
Contracts
aren’t
just
legal
documents.
They’re
systems.
And
most
of
those
systems
are
messy,
over-customized,
and
inconsistent.
You
can’t
fix
that
with
software
alone.
In
fact,
trying
to
automate
a
broken
contract
process
is
like
paving
over
a
pothole-ridden
road.
It
looks
good
at
first,
but
it
doesn’t
hold
up.
“Start
small,”
Maryam
advised
in
the
interview.
“Most
legal
teams
don’t
even
have
the
basic
operational
functions
optimized.”
Before
adding
tech,
you
have
to
understand
what’s
broken
and
whether
your
people
even
have
the
bandwidth
to
address
it.
The
Case
For
An
Alliance:
ALSPs,
Legal
Ops,
And
Tech
Here’s
where
things
get
interesting.
Maryam
doesn’t
just
advocate
for
legal
technology.
She
champions
the
power
of
ALSPs
(alternative
legal
service
providers)
as
a
strategic
bridge.
Not
just
to
reduce
cost,
but
to
enable
progress.
“ALSPs
and
legal
tech
should
be
best
friends,”
she
said.
“We
can
come
in,
take
over
the
work
that’s
keeping
lawyers
really
busy,
so
they
can
learn
to
use
the
tools
and
really
optimize
themselves.”
This
is
a
perspective
we
don’t
hear
enough.
Tech
is
not
the
hero;
alignment
is.
When
ALSPs
provide
capacity,
legal
ops
lead
process
design,
and
legal
tech
powers
automation,
that’s
when
change
takes
root.
But
this
kind
of
collaboration
doesn’t
happen
by
accident.
It
starts
with
intentional
planning
and
brutally
honest
scoping.
Who
is
doing
what?
Where
does
human
judgment
still
matter?
How
will
success
be
measured?
Without
that
clarity,
change
efforts
collapse
under
their
own
weight.
What
In-House
Teams
Can
Do
Right
Now
If
you’re
staring
down
a
contract
transformation
or
trying
to
recover
from
one
that’s
gone
sideways,
there’s
a
better
path
forward.
Start
with
your
team’s
current
capacity.
Who
is
doing
contract
work
today?
What
kind
of
work
is
it?
Is
it
negotiable?
Is
it
repetitive?
Is
it
aligned
to
risk?
From
there,
look
at
where
the
work
is
getting
stuck.
Is
it
a
legal
review?
Redlines?
Business
confusion?
Each
of
these
pain
points
suggests
a
different
solution
and
a
different
role
for
tech,
ops,
or
external
support.
Then,
talk
to
your
ALSPs.
Not
when
you’re
in
panic
mode,
but
before.
“Have
coffee
chats,”
Maryam
suggested.
“Say,
I
have
no
needs,
I
just
want
to
learn.”
These
conversations
build
trust,
surface
new
solutions,
and
help
legal
leaders
see
what’s
working
for
others.
Lastly,
set
your
team
up
for
quick
wins.
If
your
contracts
are
full
of
inconsistencies,
don’t
roll
out
a
contract
AI
tool
on
Day
One.
Start
by
simplifying
templates.
Clarify
fallback
positions.
Create
a
process
that
works
for
humans,
not
just
for
software.
As
Maryam
put
it,
“Think
big.
Start
small.”
The
Bottom
Line
Legal
teams
don’t
fail
because
they
resist
change.
They
fail
because
the
support
they
get
is
fragmented.
Tech
wants
adoption.
ALSPs
want
projects.
Ops
wants
scalability.
But
the
contracting
process
needs
all
three:
aligned,
honest,
and
focused
on
outcomes.
The
good
news?
That
alliance
is
already
forming.
And
legal
departments
that
embrace
it
are
discovering
something
powerful:
clarity
is
a
competitive
advantage.
Contracting
doesn’t
have
to
be
the
bottleneck.
With
the
right
partners,
it
becomes
a
catalyst.
Watch
the
full
interview
with
Maryam
Salehijam
here.
Olga
V.
Mack is
the
CEO
of TermScout,
an
AI-powered
contract
certification
platform
that
accelerates
revenue
and
eliminates
friction
by
certifying
contracts
as
fair,
balanced,
and
market-ready.
A
serial
CEO
and
legal
tech
executive,
she
previously
led
a
company
through
a
successful
acquisition
by
LexisNexis.
Olga
is
also
a Fellow
at
CodeX,
The
Stanford
Center
for
Legal
Informatics,
and
the
Generative
AI
Editor
at
law.MIT.
She
is
a
visionary
executive
reshaping
how
we
law—how
legal
systems
are
built,
experienced,
and
trusted.
Olga teaches
at
Berkeley
Law,
lectures
widely,
and
advises
companies
of
all
sizes,
as
well
as
boards
and
institutions.
An
award-winning
general
counsel
turned
builder,
she
also
leads
early-stage
ventures
including Virtual
Gabby
(Better
Parenting
Plan), Product
Law
Hub, ESI
Flow,
and Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self,
each
rethinking
the
practice
and
business
of
law
through
technology,
data,
and
human-centered
design.
She
has
authored The
Rise
of
Product
Lawyers, Legal
Operations
in
the
Age
of
AI
and
Data, Blockchain
Value,
and Get
on
Board,
with Visual
IQ
for
Lawyers (ABA)
forthcoming.
Olga
is
a
6x
TEDx
speaker
and
has
been
recognized
as
a
Silicon
Valley
Woman
of
Influence
and
an
ABA
Woman
in
Legal
Tech.
Her
work
reimagines
people’s
relationship
with
law—making
it
more
accessible,
inclusive,
data-driven,
and
aligned
with
how
the
world
actually
works.
She
is
also
the
host
of
the
Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self
podcast
(streaming
on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts,
and YouTube),
and
her
insights
regularly
appear
in
Forbes,
Bloomberg
Law,
Newsweek,
VentureBeat,
ACC
Docket,
and
Above
the
Law.
She
earned
her
B.A.
and
J.D.
from
UC
Berkeley.
Follow
her
on LinkedIn and
X
@olgavmack.