Corporations and legal departments will face new demands in 2021 in response to COVID-19 vaccines, lockdowns and economic uncertainty. But legal departments’ lingering question of how much authority and leeway they should grant legal ops could hinder any new opportunities in 2021 and beyond, say legal ops providers and observers.

Legaltech News contacted various legal operations professionals, consultants and legal ops tech providers to hear how they think 2021 will unfold for the legal ops job market. Opinions were mixed. Some argued legal ops leveraging data-driven solutions and improved workflow processes will be crucial next year. But others noted 2020 layoffs could linger into 2021 as corporations reassess their needs in a newly distributed workforce. The quotes below are in alphabetical order by name, and some have been edited for length and clarity.