Back in 2008, I joined Google to stand up its legal operations function at a time when legal operations was a largely non-existent, undefined role. This career change came about when our country was in the midst of the Great Recession, and legal departments were feeling pressure from their CFOs to do things more efficiently and effectively. The financial constraints forced legal professionals to rethink how they were doing business.

As we reflect on the past year and a half of this pandemic, we see a similar scenario unfolding. The pandemic has inspired leaders from all industries to rethink how they work. This includes turning to technology to address problems in ways they never had before. Even in a change-resistant field like legal, the economics become undeniable at some point. Now more than ever, legal departments are ripe for disruption.

The Role of Legal Operations Moving Forward