The first area, he said, revolves around platforms that enable “enterprise legal management” systems.

“Enterprise legal management (ELM) systems continue to advance and provide a compelling option for pulling basic information out of poor-fit channels like email, personal devices or shared drives,” said Mr Hutto.

“Even more important than putting them in place is keeping a team on the same page for how the solution should be used. Only then can they enable more effective information sharing for the post-pandemic era of hybrid work, improve accountability and transparency in the legal organisation, and enable predictive analytics capabilities.”

The second, he said, revolves around systems that encourage digitally-enabled workflows.

“Legal and compliance teams face more work to manage than ever before, and the traditional overhead costs are enormous,” said Mr Hutto.

“Digitising the highest volume workflows is both feasible, with mature technologies to do so, and has been shown to have profound results in terms of legal productivity for early adopters – if well managed.

“Leaders should carefully consider where and how to invest in a given workflow – for instance, a CLM solution with a basic intake method and user-driven workflow routing often delivers greater, more consistent value than an overly complex configuration with poor-fit automations that fails to get off the ground. Don’t waste the precious time of your team – on top of the capex on a tech solution – trying to tackle the wrong opportunities.”

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The third area leaders should be considering in their technology efforts is investing in a digital risk management system, according to Mr Hutto.

“Regulatory volatility, digital business transformation, increasing cyber risks, and the magnitude of information derived from monitored risk and security activities are straining the ability of organisations to manage risk effectively through traditional ‘analog’ means, and the pandemic has only exacerbated this stress,” he said.

“Trying to manage the organisation’s risk profile without digital investments is not only needlessly time-consuming but also inadequate. Digital management of risk can help connect disparate processes or stakeholders, deliver unprecedented insight, and will underpin dynamic risk governance – a transformational shift for how organisations should approach risk governance.”

Looking ahead

Going forward Mr Hutto said it’s more important than ever for leaders to consider their organisation’s approach to technology investment.

“As a result of acute workload pressures through the pandemic, technology solutions appear more attractive than ever for over-burdened legal and compliance teams,” he explained.

“Compounding this, the market has seen ongoing consolidation even as new entrants continue to arise. Significant hype tends to follow more sophisticated technology innovation – like AI – as well. As a result, many legal leaders get overwhelmed by technology opportunities. Legal and compliance teams don’t always know what they want (or what they could pursue), but they know they need technology.

“While the right technology for a given team depends on their underlying priorities, their digital progress to date, and their own risk posture, legal leaders must also monitor advancements in innovation to guide where they focus their technology investment. Focused investment in these areas can unlock the kind of transformational efficiency gains in legal and compliance like we have witnessed in other business functions, such as finance or HR.”

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