Despite your new legal software being a “no-brainer”, you have user adoption and acceptance challenges. Many members of your team are still using the old processes. Why, when the benefits are so obvious, and how can you encourage your colleagues to use the new system?
Although nowhere near as critical as air safety, several law firms have established the principle of running “pre-flight checks” on their e-Bills before submitting them to a legal spend management or e-Billing system such as BusyLamp. This is done to correct any obvious errors on the e-Bill and therefore reduce the % of invoices that get rejected in the first stage of the validation process. This leads to invoices being accepted and paid by the client faster. Over time, common errors can be identified and processes at the firm made more accurate and efficient.
Easy to use, clear and comprehensive reporting functionality has evolved from an added bonus to a must-have requirement for corporate legal teams when evaluating legal technology. Where legal operations is missing a trick is when data analysis from a particular tool is used in isolation. Those legal operations teams that are seeing the most value are those that combine data from various technology tools to take their strategic input to the next level. One such area, which is of massive importance to the entire business, is management and mitigation of risk.
UTBMS codes enable legal operations teams to compare and contrast the cost and efficiency with which different law firms execute similar matters. But the codes can cause confusion and outside counsel can struggle to accurately use UTBMS and LEDES codes in their time recording. AI (artificial intelligence) in e-Billing software solves this.
If you have ever been involved in handling the fall out of a data breach by one of your suppliers, you will appreciate the pressures of trying to assess the potential risk and exposure the breach might have on your company. One tool which can help (both with an immediate investigation and with any future risk assessments) but is often overlooked for this purpose is a legal spend management system (like BusyLamp).
Most lawyers and even technology-savvy legal operations managers are not data security experts. The following list of cyber security considerations will aid you in asking pointed questions so you can address system safety at the same time as the ‘core’ functional requirements of the technology.
The 90s and 00s saw many barriers to widespread adoption of e-Billing software. With many of these huge logistical stumbling blocks overcome by changes in legislation and developments in software, the last decade has seen more legal departments mandate their law firms to use e-Billing. Read about the major developments in e-Billing over the past decade and predictions of future trends.
Far from being a new technology, a lot has happened in the world of legal electronic invoicing (or e-Billing) over the last 10-20 years. Part one examines the early drivers of e-Billing software and the barriers to global adoption.
Digitalisation creates new business models. Uber provides mobility services without owning cars, thus displacing classical taxis. Airbnb offers private apartments for rent and thus creates competition for long-established hotel chains. All industry leaders must ask themselves if their traditional value propositions are still intact or if innovative players can use disruptive and networked technologies to […]
Despite legal operations being a relatively established function – only 2% are not focusing on it at all – 44% are assigning the responsibilities to a corporate lawyer rather than having a dedicated person. However, the trend is towards creating dedicated legal operations positions and building teams. So how do you prepare and train your existing team for legal operations success?
Legal e-Billing is well understood and not only in the large law firms. But those unfamiliar with it can be reluctant to use it. Lessons can be learnt from those firms who are experienced using e-billing, have dedicated e-billing teams, and are reaping the benefits.
In today’s business world, universal goals such as transparency, efficiency gains and data analysis are achieved through the combination of skilled personnel and software. The discipline of legal operations is no exception to this and is proven by a glance at the world’s leading legal operations teams. There is not one among them who does […]
“Lies, damned lies and statistics” is frequently used to deride data analysis, however data, in its raw form, can be a source of true facts; it is the interpretation and presentation of data that allows people to put their own agenda across. Over the years, legal teams will have built up a significant amount of […]
by Anastasia Hufen, In-House Counsel, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale Inhale. Exhale. Breathe in the April air, full of vernal confidence and the tempting thrill of spring. Well, back at my desk after a long sunny weekend, I could not help but ask: How can I keep the thrill by challenging my daily workload?! Simple enough: […]
Legal Operations teams are generally tasked with the design, planning and implementation of their legal team’s strategic initiatives to support the business. They must be able to balance managing risk and regulatory changes with operational efficiencies whilst keeping costs in check. Access to data in a structured form allows the team to provide valuable and […]
Getting your law firms on-boarded as efficiently and painlessly as possible is a key factor in the overall success of a legal eBilling project. How can you, as a legal department, add value to the process, and start a collaborative eBilling relationship?
Legal spend management technology generates savings for in-house teams in many ways. Using these savings areas, different eBilling software providers will estimate savings from $46,000 to $800,000 per year for a “typical” legal department. However, to truly know the financial impact, the cost of investment must also be considered and this is typically less publicised!
With the increased pressure on legal departments to improve efficiency and control costs, modern legal spend management solutions are a sensible option as they quickly generate savings that exceed the initial investment. A typical legal department can expect to save EUR 445000 in the first year. eBilling automates processes and allows legal departments to identify cost-saving measures both in the immediate term and by making use of data-driven strategies for the future. Here are six of the ways legal spend management can reduce your costs.
Part three. Change management is a very important component of successfully implementing new software in the legal department. It is often under stated or not fully appreciated. It is sometimes seen as an “add on” to the more technical aspects of the project. Those who underestimate the importance of change management during the course of the implementation often fail to achieve the desired business outcomes.
Part two. The importance of stakeholder engagement is vital, both during technology project definition and the implementation. So how can you identify key project stakeholders and get the buy-in required?
As you read in part one, the collection and analysis of stakeholder and end users’ requirements is a key enabler of success when designing and implementing a new system. It is of course (and unfortunately, frequently) possible to outline solution requirements without taking into account stakeholder needs but to do so presents a real but avoidable risk of project failure.
Some of these stakeholder groups or individuals may be fully on-board, giving it full support, and will require very little management in terms of expectations. However, there are likely to be key stakeholders who will have other priorities or may be resistant to the change that a new software tool brings.
