Matthew Fawcett of NetApp speaking at the California Legal Awards dinner reception held the Hilton in San Francisco's Union Square. Photo credit: Jason Doiy/The Recorder.

NetApp Inc. is a company in the process of transformation. The Sunnyvale, California-based storage and data management company has faced industry changes head-on, proving an ability to adapt—and its legal department is no different.

Matthew Fawcett, NetApp's senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer, has been a key figure in NetApp's many transformations since he started at the company in 2010.

For some legal departments, “transformation” is code for solely slashing budgets, but that's not the case at NetApp.

“A lot of people read transformation as cost-cutting,” Fawcett said. “We have to take cost out of our business and our department but we said we can't take the 'need to do more with less mentality.' That's a zero sum game.”

Instead of just cutting down on expenses, Fawcett, alongside NetApp's senior director of legal operations, Connie Brenton, took a holistic approach to boost efficiency and produce better work, faster.

He prioritized teamwork, as NetApp's law department created a shared services team to handle contracts and transactions in a “no touch or low touch fashion,” saving time, work and money. The legal team consists of staff from around the world. It's a multinational operation that Fawcett said requires strong communication.

“Our lawyer in New York needs to be able to send something to a colleague in Singapore, and then she needs to send that to our lawyer in Munich,” he said. “The only way you can do that is a focus on teamwork. It requires everyone on the team to put the team above their own ego.”

This can be just as hard as it sounds. With team members scattered and taking on many responsibilities, Fawcett said he needs to make sure he's keeping those he works with dedicated and interested. If they're not, he noted, and they lose passion and connection to their work, it's less incentive to innovate and do what's best for the company long-term.

That's why Fawcett emphasizes relationships and teamwork over everything else.

“It is probably pretty basic, but important,” he said. “We do a lot to build connection. I have one-on-one meetings with everyone, not just with my direct reports. And we try to get our teams, our global team, together at different times and venues.”

Technology has also changed how NetApp's legal team communicates and develops relationships. Fawcett said his team uses their own social media app to post photos and build on already existing relationships within the company.

Fawcett's been a big proponent of using tech to boost efficiency as well. He brought workflow automation into NetApp's legal department. As their productivity quickly grew, the rest of the company took notice and started adopting it.

It's a trend he hopes will continue going forward. Looking toward 2018, Fawcett says he plans to continue beta testing new technologies in his legal department, with a particular focus on blockchain. They'll also look more into AI and ways to make mandatory training around compliance more interesting and valuable.

“Every company I know of is going through a digital transformation,” he said. “'DX' is a hot word. That digital transformation is going to feel like its putting pressure on legal departments. But the secret is to figure out how to take that pressure and turn it into fuel for your own transformation.”