Defining Legal Ops

So, what does legal ops actually do?

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) defines 12 core functions that make up the legal ops ecosystem, among them are:

→ Project Management
→ Technology
→ Training + Development
→ Firm + Vendor Management
→ Organization Optimization + Health
→ Strategic Planning
→ Information Governance
→ Knowledge Management
→ Service Delivery Models
→ Practice Operations
→ Financial Management & Business Intelligence

This list should make clear: Legal ops is about more than just efficiency; and it moves well beyond technology (and AI, although that is being discussed at every legal ops table and in every element of CLOC's core 12).

Legal ops is about training, onboarding, succession planning, and future-proofing your team. It’s about building systems that enable growth at every level.

Meaning: this is applicable to legal departments (in house teams) and to law firms and teams within those law firms.

For me, this year, I'm focused on project management: planning and coordinating my teams in a way that facilitates changes to how I practice (and run litigation / trial teams), encourages innovation, and promotes focused, efficient efforts.

Off to it.