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Adapting to a braver new post-pandemic world includes in-house counsel adopting new trends in technology and business practices to keep moving forward. A Gallup article predicts that 37% of office desks will continue to stay empty in 2022 – including those of in-house counsel. If this educated guess comes true, what are handy legal tech and business practices that in-house counsel can integrate?
Business trends
Going beyond law
An upward trend that in-house counsel have adopted is going beyond a focus on legal only. With their legal know-how, they also offer substantive business advice and are on advisory boards of the companies they work at.
Revamping employment policies
According to an article by the National Law Review, the current and tech-savvy generation of employees view corporate jobs as transitional, and not for life. This could adversely affect employment policies and work environments.
The “conscious” generation of employees view jobs as transitional, life enhancing, yet not-for-life.
However, if in-house counsel are equipped with the right tools, they can mitigate the overall risks to their company, involved in having a fleeting workforce. Adding to this is the whole 180° shift in work ethics and the work environment that COVID-19 threw at the legal world.
Tech trends for evolving in-house counsel
The need of the hour is in leveraging legal tech to help in-house counsel work smarter, without putting a strain on resources, time, and most of all – money.
Artificial Intelligence
According to Business Insider, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) set a volume record in 2021, in part due to the pandemic. In-house counsel lawyers predict an even busier 2022, which is why it makes sense to adopt tech like legal artificial intelligence to streamline processes. This makes the transition process smoother, and streamlined, considering the large amounts of data and matter at in-house counsel offices.
Legal Analytics
Legal tech like legal analytics tools, helps in-house counsel carry out everyday to-do tasks- faster and better. Whether it’s drafting a brief, creating an M&A agreement, or creating litigation case outcomes, legal analytics software does it with accuracy and speed. There’s no software out there that does the job better than legal analytics-powered ones.
Automation
In 2022, Gartner predicts that legal departments will automate over 50% of their legal work for key business transactions. Error-free and secure, automation provides legal departments the freedom to focus on other matter work, while smart technology can review hundreds of legal documents. This saves time, resources, and money. In-house counsel no longer need to dedicate legal teams to spend hours trawling through papers when it can be done in minutes.
Keeping an eye on business trends and legal tech keeps in-house counsel up to date and in the know. From evolving beyond only legal, to adopting the latest tech trends, 2022 is set to make each in-house counsel attorney a legal powerhouse at their company.
