Technology Management

EARLY

• Reliance on corporate IT or third-party providers to identify and implement technology
• Limited technology deployment and user adoption
• Reliance on spreadsheets for core Legal activities such as legal hold, matter, contract, document, IP and project management, reporting, etc.
• Assessment of existing technology underway to create an initial technology roadmap.

INTERMEDIATE

• Legal coordinates with corporate IT to identify and implement technology, often with a designated liaison, project manager, and helpdesk support
• Actively leverages current technology within Legal, driving adoption and establishing some integrations across systems
• Technology roadmap focused on identifying, prioritizing, and sequencing implementations to support core legal activities
• Training ad hoc, using limited platforms
• Typical systems in place include legal hold, e-billing, basic matter management, contract, document, and IP management
• Effort underway to digitize and automate processes (e.g. legal intake and triage, workflows, NDAs)
• Regular attention to maintenance of existing systems, ensuring they are up to date and continue to be relevant and compliant with regulations

• Enhancements are reactive, in response to ad hoc requests or systems failures.

   

ADVANCED

• Legal focused on aligning business processes across the enterprise using technology
• Longer-term (five-year) technology roadmap; benchmarked and adapted as environment changes
• Process in place for research, scenario planning, and piloting emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, and natural language processing
• Technologists or legal ops leaders evaluate changes in technology and develop implementation strategies; drive continuous improvement in user adoption\
• Technologists integrated into legal operations function or provided as dedicated IT resource
• Training and user support protocols well-established and presented using various platforms
• Strong integration among systems in Legal, and as appropriate across the enterprise
• Processes automated where feasible, and roadmap includes continuing focus on automation and digital transformation
• Systems typically include legal service intake/triage, legal hold, financial (e-billing/metrics/ billing guidelines), eDiscovery, knowledge/collaboration, full contract lifecycle, matter, document, IP management, workflow automation; and applications designed to anticipate/mitigate risk (e.g. tracking new regulations, trends in consumer complaints, deficiencies identified in audits)
• Process in place to proactively consider systems enhancements, often including an ongoing user group or other mechanism to share best practices, collect feedback, and request and evaluate enhancements.

Deploying Generative AI: Insights from Innovative Legal Leaders
Watch this session to learn about the innovative ways leading legal departments are deploying Generative AI, going beyond the theoretical to focus on real-world Generative AI uses, governance, and strategies. 

Key Questions for Businesses Embarking on Their Generative AI Journey
This article explores 10 questions every company should consider when embarking on their Generative AI journey.

Technology Adoption in Legal Departments
This flyer presents the percentage of legal departments that use each of 26 technology areas listed, such as contract management, eSignature, and matter management, based on results from ACC's 2024 Law Department Management Benchmarking Survey.

The Art of the Possible: Future-Focused Potential
Gain invaluable insights into the future of the legal tech enabled law department and awaken your imagination to realize the possibilities that lay ahead.

The 10 Factors for Succeeding with Advanced Legal Technologies
This article discusses steps organizations can take when adopting advanced legal technology. 

Tools and Technology - Roadmap
Tools to inventory and assess current state technology, and prioritize technology initiatives.

Tools and Technology - Technology Discussion Guide
Interview guide to assess current state technology utilization and future state requirements.

2023 Legal Technology Report for In-house Legal Professionals
This report presents the types of legal technology organizations are using and their perceived effectiveness, purchasing behavior, and top technology challenges.

Generative AI WILL Revolutionize In-House Legal Work
Discover how Generative AI is revolutionizing the field of in-house legal work and gain insight from industry leaders on how to navigate this transformative technology. 

Legal Ops Technology From a GC’s POV
Discover the transformative power of operations technology from the perspective of seasoned General Counsels (GCs). In this session, esteemed GCs will share their insights on the unparalleled value that technology brings to their department and the wider enterprise.

Sample Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy
This is a sample artificial intelligence policy regarding employees' use of AI tools for work purposes.

The State of Collaboration in Corporate Legal Departments
ACC and Everlaw survey of 373 in-house legal professionals in the United States to better understand the extent to which corporate legal departments are collaborating with other business units, how legal teams are collaborating with their law firms and other vendors, and how technology plays a role in enabling collaboration.

Tips for Developing a Corporate AI Policy
What issues should companies consider when implementing best practices for utilizing AI in the workplace? This resource outlines issues to consider when developing a corporate AI policy.

Tools and Technology - System Implementation Project Management
Template technology implementation charter and high-level project plan.

2021 Who Uses What Legal Technology Report
Summary of the use of technology within legal departments, and facilitates conversations discussing the utility and effectiveness of the technology tools that they are using