At the center of CLOC’s programming are 12 of what the organization calls “core competencies”; if you’ve spent any time around the organization, you’ve probably heard the phrase at least once. But for legal operations newcomers, discerning what the competencies are can be confusing, and figuring out exactly how and where they should be applied is even more so.

But the 12 competencies, said Jeff Franke, a member of CLOC’s executive team and former legal operations head at Yahoo, are part of a bigger picture: determining legal department maturity. The 12 competencies, he explained, are meant to serve as a benchmark to compare a department’s growth to others in the industry.