LEGAL OPERATIONS STRATEGY

Summary & Introduction

This Legal Operations Strategy & Project Plan showcases a structured, business-focused approach to optimizing legal department efficiency. Designed to be scalable and sustainable, this plan outlines key process improvements, regulatory compliance measures, and technology implementations to enhance operational effectiveness. By addressing critical challenges such as contract lifecycle management (CLM) implementation, entity maintenance, and workflow automation, the strategy ensures alignment with broader business objectives while increasing productivity and reducing bottlenecks.

This document serves as a portfolio piece, demonstrating my expertise in legal operations strategy, system implementation, and cross-functional collaboration. It provides a practical roadmap for improving legal team efficiency, refining processes, and driving long-term success.

LEGAL OPERATIONS STRATEGY & 6-9 MONTH PROJECT PLAN

Prepared by: Daniel Michalek  

Role: Director / Head of Legal Operations

OBJECTIVE

This Legal Operations Strategy outlines a nine-month roadmap to enhance efficiency within the Legal department. By implementing scalable, sustainable processes, the team will streamline workflows, minimize bottlenecks, and improve cross-functional collaboration, ensuring alignment with the company’s broader business objectives.

STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS

CLM implementation is the top priority and the most resource-intensive project. However, by first optimizing legal requests, contract review, and compliance processes, I can streamline operations and allocate more time to the critical hands-on aspects of CLM deployment.

• Efficiency Improvements [15% time and effort]
  • Optimize intake process.
  • Legal Operations triages inbound requests.
  • Establish SLAs for inbound requests.

• Entity Maintenance & Regulatory Compliance [15% time and effort]
  • Establish a Corporate & Regulatory Filing Calendar.

• CLM Implementation [70% of time and effort]
  • Establish a Mission Control & Success Plan.

PROJECT PLAN

Months 1-3: Assessment & Quick Wins

1. Stakeholder Mapping & Engagement

• Key stakeholders. Identify key stakeholders in Legal, Procurement, Partnerships, Finance, and IT.
• Map current processes. Conduct interviews to understand current processes, pain points, workflow challenges, and process gaps.
• Cross-functional alignment. Map out touchpoints between departments to ensure cross-functional alignment.

2. Efficiency Improvements

• Corporate & Regulatory Filing Calendar. Use Sheets to track filings and entity data, with key contacts, dates, and links to relevant documents and sites.
• Intake form. Refine the intake form to enhance data collection on priority, spend, and impacted teams using logic branching or multi-select questions. These small adjustments will help streamline SLAs, improve request prioritization, and ensure efficient task assignment.
• Legal Operations takes operational lead. Legal Operations will triage each request. Legal Operations will take the lead on low-risk contract work leveraging playbooks.
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Work with the Legal team to develop SLAs (e.g., confirm receipt within 24 hours, complete first review within 7 business days, etc.).

3. CLM System Preparation

• Mission Control & Success Plan. Use Sheets to document and track agreed-upon strategic goals and a list of actionable steps to support the project.
• Map current processes and develop V1 workflows. Legal Operations will work with stakeholders to map current processes and document system design requirements, to create V1 workflows in Ironclad.

Months 4-6: System Integration & Workflow Optimization

1. Entity Management & Regulatory Compliance

• Corporate & Regulatory Filing Calendar. The asset is in use to ensure timely filing of entity and regulatory requirements and to provide visibility to team members.

2. CLM Implementation

• Using V1 workflows, test workflow rules, approvals, etc.
• Prepare training materials / guides for system users.
• Pilot the CLM system with a small group of users to refine workflows.

Months 7-9: Implementation & Training

1. Efficiency & Automation Automation. Leverage logic capabilities in Google Forms for inbound requests and in Ironclad for contract management.

• Metrics and data. Track legal request turnaround times (this is a manual process via Google Forms). Use Ironclad Insights to visualize and analyze contract data.

2. CLM System Adoption & Optimization

• Collect feedback. Conduct post-implementation user feedback sessions.
• System usage metrics. Monitor system usage and address any ongoing resistance or technical issues.
• Further system integration. Integrate the CLM system with other business tools (e.g., ERP, Procurement platforms) to enhance functionality.

3. Long-Term Legal Operations Strategy

• Legal Operations Playbook. Introduce standardized processes and best practices that establish continuous improvement in the Legal team. Provide quarterly reports to leadership highlighting efficiencies gained and performance against SLAs and KPIs.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS TO MEASURE PROGRESS

1. Average Contract Review Time. 25% reduction in contract review turnaround time within 6 months.
2. Percentage of Compliance Matters Resolved. 100% of regulatory filings and entity renewals tracked and completed on time.
3. CLM User Adoption Rate. CLM system adoption rate of 85% within 6 months.
4. CLM User Satisfaction Rate. User satisfaction scores of 80% or higher post-implementation.

POTENTIAL OBSTACLES & MITIGATION STRATEGIES

• Stakeholder Resistance
  • Proactively address concerns through open communication, white-glove training, and user-centric design.
  • Highlight early successes and quick wins to build trust in the new CLM.
• Resource Constraints
  • Prioritize high-impact projects and leverage existing tools where possible.
  • Engage cross-functional teams for shared ownership of legal processes.

SUCCESS METRICS

1. Fully operational CLM system with high user adoption and minimal resistance.
2. Zero missed regulatory deadlines or entity renewals.
3. Noticeable improvement in the Legal team’s efficiency, as reflected in faster contract turnaround times and improved cross-departmental collaboration.

CONCLUSION

This Legal Operations Strategy builds a more efficient, compliant, and tech-driven Legal team. Focusing on system implementation, process optimization, and collaboration ensures the team meets current challenges and supports long-term business goals.