Outside counsel management: how in-house legal teams use technology

In house legal teams are facing escalating costs for managing outside counsel while also dealing with shrinking budgets. It’s becoming more complex to manage communication with external law firms while each has different processes. Plus, relationships with outside counsel tend to operate in silos – when a member of your team is not available or on leave, no one really knows what’s going on.

Managing outside counsel effectively with outside counsel management software is crucial for any in house team. As regulatory environments become more complex and the need for specialized legal skills and expertise grows, external counsel become a valuable extension of your business.

But managing external relationships can be challenging for busy legal departments for all sorts of reasons. In some cases, departments have as many systems as they do outside law firms. It’s far from ideal. In fact, it’s inefficient, increases outside counsel spend, and can impact the quality of service delivered by your team.

Enter technology. Modern tech can revolutionize how in house legal teams interact with external law firms and legal counsel. Plus, with an integrated platform, you won’t need to go digging through a team member’s notes when they call in sick on an important day in court.

The challenges … you know them well

You know the drill…handwritten notes, multiple spreadsheets and systems that don’t talk to each other. Traditional outside counsel management often involves a haphazard approach to legal work that can lead to business challenges at best, and compliance risks at worst.

Lack of visibility: In-house teams often have limited insight into the work performed by outside counsel, making it difficult to assess their contribution and efficiency.
Multiple separate systems: Client portals, contract management software, knowledge management systems and collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are all great but if they don’t talk to each other, chances are you’re wasting time and duplicating effort.
Inefficient communication: Exchanges between external and in house lawyers are often not recorded, leading to delays and misunderstandings.
Difficulty tracking spend: Without a systematic approach, it’s just about impossible to monitor legal expenses or budget accurately.
Measuring performance: Spreadsheets, personal opinion, individual preferences…none of these are ideal for measuring performance. The result can often be inconsistent service quality.

It’s no wonder that busy in house legal teams are turning to technology to create smoother processes with more predictable outcomes.

How technology can simplify outside counsel management

Technology, particularly purpose-built software and online platforms, can transform basic interactions into a streamlined, efficient process.

While embracing change can be daunting, there are loads of benefits for legal departments that invest in new systems.

Enhanced communication: Secure, cloud-based platforms give everyone one shared record of the matter, so updates from outside counsel don’t sit in one person’s inbox.
Spend management: Track external counsel invoices and spend against budgets, allowing for more realistic financial planning.
Performance analytics: Digital tools provide metrics and data analysis, offering insights into counsel efficiency and effectiveness, helping you choose better counsel for every task.

Cost control and managing spend in legal departments

Controlling costs is a constant challenge in managing outside counsel. Without clear visibility over every aspect of spending, it’s easy for costs to blow out meaning you often have to cut costs elsewhere.

Legal spend management tools give a granular view of spend by law firm, business unit, quarter or year. Approval workflows route external counsel engagements to the right person for sign-off before work starts.

Enhancing outside counsel performance measurement

To ensure outside counsel deliver value for money, today’s legal teams must find innovative solutions for performance measurement. But it’s not always possible to know how external counsel are progressing a case and that can be a problem for accountability.

Technology enables legal departments to monitor outside counsel performance, making it easier to gauge alignment with agreed standards and expectations. Tracking turnaround times, billing, and the outcome of legal matters allows you to address any issues proactively.

Reporting dashboards let you compare panel performance, responsiveness, costs and outcomes, helping internal teams make informed decisions about future engagements.

All your communication in one place

We’ve all been there: juggling fragmented communication with outside law firms. Some people default to email, others make phone calls and some meet in person. These personal preferences make it impossible for everyone to stay across the important details.

A lack of real time updates can delay decision-making and slow the progress of legal cases. By choosing a single platform, everyone stays on the same page, reducing confusion and preventing delays.

Find what you need when you need it

Different external teams often use different systems for preparing and storing documents, leading to wasted time and information silos.

Modern matter management platforms, like Dazychain, keep matter-related documents, correspondence and records together in a central workspace, including external counsel documents. Dazychain also supports automated document creation and templates in Microsoft Word, so everyone works from the same format. It also means that when you’re looking for information, you know where to find it.

Workflow automation has transformed the daily routines of in house counsel in a good way. Time previously wasted on repetitive tasks such as contract approvals, external counsel instructions and compliance checks can be spent on tasks that benefit the business.

Compliance and risk management

In today’s highly regulated environment, compliance and risk management are understandably a strong focus for corporate legal teams. Using a matter management platform like Dazychain keeps compliance-related information in one place, with risk ratings, audit trails and governance controls on every matter.

Legal teams can then report on high-risk legal matters and external counsel matters side by side, and act on issues before they escalate.

What to look for in an outside counsel management platform

If you are comparing outside counsel management software, check that it covers the whole relationship with each firm, not just invoices:

One record per matter: instructions, documents, correspondence and status sit on the matter, not in one lawyer’s inbox.
Intake that flags external counsel early: the request form asks whether external counsel is required, so the decision is recorded from the start (see legal intake software).
Approval pathways: engaging a firm or sending an instruction follows a set approval route.
Spend tracking: external counsel invoices and spend tracked by law firm, matter and business unit, against budget.
Performance data: responsiveness, costs and outcomes for each firm, plus your team’s own feedback.
Reporting leaders can use: dashboards on external counsel matters, spend and trends, without rebuilding a spreadsheet each quarter.

How corporate legal departments track outside counsel work

Many teams start with a spreadsheet of firms, matters and invoices. It works until someone is on leave or the board asks for a spend report. The more reliable approach is to make external counsel part of the matter record: capture at intake whether external counsel is needed, record which firm is instructed on each matter, keep their updates and documents against it, and report on spend and outcomes from the same data.

Powering up your legal team with Dazychain

With tools designed to streamline communication, manage costs, and improve overall efficiency, Dazychain empowers legal departments to focus more on strategic activities and less on administration.

Dazychain brings outside counsel management into the same platform as your legal matters.

Centralized matter management: A single source of truth for all matter management workflows, including external counsel matters.
Clear instructions: Give outside counsel clearer instructions and keep their updates, documents and matter activity on one shared record.
Cost control: Keep detailed records of external counsel spend and report on budget versus actual spend by firm, matter and business unit.
Performance tracking and analytics: Rate law firms on performance and compare responsiveness, costs and outcomes, helping your team make informed decisions about future engagements.

Prepare your legal department for the future

Are high costs and the complexities of managing outside counsel stifling your legal team? With tools tailored to enhance communication, control costs, and track performance, Dazychain empowers your legal department to operate at peak efficiency and seamlessly manage legal vendors.

No more digging through notes or dealing with fragmented systems – everything you need is centralized and accessible. Book a demo today.