If
you’re
in-house,
overwhelmed,
and
wondering
if
there’s
a
smarter
way
to
support
the
business
without
burning
out,
make
time
for
Tanisha
Minev.
In
a
recent
episode
of
Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self,
Tanisha
—
in-house
legal
counsel
and
co-author
of
“Legal
Operations
in
the
Age
of
AI
and
Data”
—
offers
one
of
the
most
grounded,
actionable
perspectives
on
legal
operations
you’ll
hear
this
year.
Her
advice
is
rooted
in
lived
experience,
not
theory,
and
it’s
especially
timely
for
teams
navigating
fast
growth,
high
expectations,
and
increasing
pressure
to
do
more
with
less.
Watch
the
full
interview
here:
Legal
Ops
Isn’t
A
Product.
It’s
A
Mindset.
Tanisha’s
entry
into
legal
ops
wasn’t
planned.
Early
in
her
career,
she
kept
running
into
the
same
inefficiencies,
especially
around
routine
contracts
like
NDAs
and
MSAs.
Without
waiting
for
new
headcount
or
technology,
she
started
simplifying
and
standardizing
what
she
could.
At
Yoco,
legal
requests
were
flying
in
through
email,
Slack,
and
hallway
conversations.
Her
solution?
A
lightweight
intake
system
using
tools
the
business
already
used.
No
expensive
platform.
No
consultants.
Just
clarity
and
intentional
process
design.
This
theme
runs
throughout
her
approach:
fix
what’s
broken
before
scaling.
Legal
operations
isn’t
about
buying
tech
—
it’s
about
solving
real
problems,
sustainably.
Contracts
Might
Be
Slowing
You
Down,
More
Than
You
Think
One
of
Tanisha’s
sharpest
insights:
your
contracts
may
be
the
most
expensive
part
of
your
sales
cycle
—
and
not
because
of
outside
counsel
bills.
She
points
to
the
hidden
cost
of
inefficient
contract
workflows.
When
teams
re-review
the
same
NDAs
or
DPAs
without
clear
fallback
positions
or
templated
guidance,
it
leads
to
bottlenecks,
decision
fatigue,
and
sales
delays.
The
solution
isn’t
just
automation
—
it’s
standardization
and
visibility.
Tanisha
warns
against
jumping
into
CLM
or
workflow
automation
too
early.
Without
a
solid
baseline
—
data
about
deal
types,
turnaround
times,
and
friction
points
—
you
risk
optimizing
noise
instead
of
solving
the
real
issues.
You
Don’t
Need
A
CLM.
You
Need
Clarity.
The
drive
to
“fix”
contracts
often
leads
teams
to
invest
in
software
before
they’ve
defined
the
problem.
Tanisha
advocates
for
a
different
approach:
start
by
tracking
what
matters
most.
What
kinds
of
contracts
are
coming
in?
What’s
slowing
down
review?
What’s
negotiable
—
and
what
isn’t?
By
building
this
internal
map,
teams
can
identify
where
to
standardize,
when
to
escalate,
and
how
to
support
the
business
with
fewer
bottlenecks.
Clarity
Builds
Trust
Tanisha
doesn’t
just
talk
about
efficiency;
she
ties
it
directly
to
trust.
When
legal
is
overwhelmed,
it’s
hard
to
be
proactive.
But
when
the
team
operates
with
clarity
—
about
intake,
about
playbooks,
about
fallback
terms
—
it
builds
confidence
across
the
business.
This
doesn’t
require
a
transformation.
Often,
it
starts
with
small
changes:
clarifying
an
NDA
playbook,
publishing
standard
terms,
or
making
a
contract
template
self-service.
These
steps
compound
over
time,
allowing
legal
to
focus
on
higher-impact
work.
Start
Small,
Improve
Something
Tanisha
closes
the
episode
with
a
simple
challenge:
“Pick
one
thing
and
make
it
better.”
Whether
it’s
intake,
contracts,
or
collaboration
with
Sales,
the
path
to
a
smarter
legal
function
isn’t
necessarily
more
tech
—
it’s
more
intention.
Her
insights
are
a
valuable
reminder:
legal
operations
isn’t
about
tools.
It’s
about
trust,
clarity,
and
continuous
improvement.
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 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.
Her
work
reimagines
people’s
relationship
with
law—making
it
more
accessible,
inclusive,
data-driven,
and
aligned
with
how
the
world
actually
works.
Follow
her
on LinkedIn and
X
@olgavmack.