“Digital transformation” is a phrase that is increasingly heard in legal circles. But what exactly does it mean?

Change invariably comes packed with a lot of big emotions, including fear, elation, depression, and exhaustion. It is important to recognize this as a natural part of the process; so you should know that the emotional roller coaster your team is about to get on has its own cycle of stages. Recognizing those stages makes them easier to manage.

The legal profession has experienced several years of upheaval and disruption. General counsel are now optimizing their internal service delivery model in the same way that they have done with their external ones.

Any GC who presides over a significant legal budget is failing to do her job if she does not involve procurement experts in her purchasing decisions.

Diversity is intrinsically desirable from a social justice perspective. But it also makes good business sense.

Have you considered the kind of diversity you need? In addition to ethnic, racial, and gender, other aspects including cognition and personality may be important.

Our culture has a tendency to focus on talent and intelligence over grit. However, when the chips are down and you are in the middle of a crisis, you definitely want to be surrounded by gritty people.

Ultimately, what you say is less important than how you say it. To be persuasive, you need to learn how to tell stories.

However many you need, you will certainly save enormous expense and generate far better outcomes by in-sourcing specialists. The trend is clear, and given the benefits, the number of in-house specialists is likely to keep rising over the next few years.

I’m speaking this week at the Alternative In-house Technology Summit in the United Kingdom. Consequently, I’ve been thinking about how technology can accelerate in-house performance.

By putting “freedom within a framework” in place, your team will have the flexibility, freedom, and autonomy to drive decisions, but in a manner that is consistent with your department’s strategic priorities.

Today’s legal department must perform at a much higher level than before — and at a lower cost. What was once considered world-class is now the baseline. Anyone working in-house knows what I mean.