Resource Library

Learn with this list of agility tips that corporate legal departments can use for both big and small projects.

Jeff Isaacs has given much thought to the evolution of legal services over his 30-plus year career in the industry, both in legal operations and as an attorney acting as both outside and in-house counsel. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with him on his career and his decision to join KPMG LLP as Director, Global Legal Managed Services. Click here to read more.

Suzanne Hawkins has seen legal operations from every angle, as a practicing attorney, legal operations head, consultant, and law firm leader. An Trotter, Senior Director of Operations, Office of the General Counsel, Hearst, had the good fortune to speak with Suzanne about her career and get her insights on the emergence and evolution of legal operations. Click here to read the full article.

An Interview with David Cambria
Legal Ops’ OG Maverick has an eye on the bright future of the industry

Just a few decades ago, a private practice lawyer in a law firm who decided to go “in-house” endured constant questioning about why they were taking a step back in their career. Was it because they were tired of the breakneck pace of a law firm? Were they OK making less money? Essentially, these lawyers were viewed as “stepping off the treadmill,” and getting “out of the game.” Not a complimentary description.  Click here to read more.

In the July issue of the ACC Observer, David Cambria shared his unique and broad perspective on legal operations' current trajectory. This column focuses on Cambria's career experience, which makes his insights worth contemplating.

This report provides a summary of the use of technology within legal departments, based on a survey conducted in autumn 2020 at the behest of the Tools & Technology Interest Group of ACC Legal Operations.

Legal Operations professionals know that a significant key to their success is rooted in stakeholder buy-in. Conference after conference, seminar after seminar, we speak *around* what it means to be in-house legal connected to the broader enterprise. We avoid topical change management and stakeholder engagement but never truly get to the underlying subject that takes this from influencer jargon theory to actionable tactics. We cannot all rely solely on our dynamic personalities and winning smiles to woo our coworkers: How do we turn the abstract of interpersonal influence into a real, functional relationship that benefits all involved? Read this article to find out.

For in-house legal departments, relationships with Outside Counsel are integral to overall management of matters and outcomes. A solid relationship creates synergy and partnership; a dysfunctional one creates frustration and typically increases costs. One of the most common tools to enhance client/firm relationships is setting effective Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs). Read this article written by Brenda Hansen, Sr. Legal Operations Consultant, Epiq Legal Business Advisory, for tips on drafting effective and impactful Outside Counsel Guidelines.

In this article we take on some common myths with Julie Johnson, Senior Manager of Legal Operations at Align Technology. Julie and her team were faced with an incomplete repository and tools that were not designed with legal in mind, which caused a lot of frustration for Legal and their stakeholders. With Julie’s leadership and the guidance of consulting firm UpLevel Ops, the Legal Ops team selected and implemented Checkbox, a workflow automation tool, to tackle the problem of the incomplete repository and lack of search functionality Julie provides insights on how her teams have achieved success by utilizing and customizing tech solutions at Align.