Peer to Peer Magazine

Fall 2016

The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association

Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/733659

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46 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | FALL 2016 FEATURES The Evolving Business of Law Corporate Legal Departments: From Cost Center to Business Unit Law firms have learned the hard way that they must integrate the business of law with the practice of law, but the struggle of in-house legal departments to integrate into their companies as a collaborative and effective business unit has been rarely discussed. Over the past decade, legal operations leaders — non-legal professionals with expertise in business project management, accounting and technology management who oversee the business of law — have seen their roles growing. This change is shiing the business of law across industries and is providing new business growth areas for consulting, technology and financial practices. The Evolution of Corporate Legal Business Before the emergence of so-called "commodity" legal services and the ability to break down services into singular tasks, corporate legal departments tended to be less financially accountable within the corporation. » Operational procedures and services were typically performed by outside counsel when the nature of the task or limited capacity of corporate counsel called for it. » Aorneys applied their skills to unique areas of law and were expected to continuously assess a changing regulatory and legal landscape. by Mike Russell and Jack Thompson Legal must be on the lookout for innovation and best practice operations as it determines how the business of law is changing and how the organization can evolve with it.

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