How legal departments can reduce daily stress

Author: Stephanie Simon-Sommer, lawyer

Legal departments are under considerable pressure. New regulations are constantly emerging from Berlin and Brussels, bringing additional legal work. Hardly any business decision is made without someone saying: “Legal should take another look at that!” Yet a quick look is rarely enough; further fine-tuning or discussion is often required. As a result, the in-house legal department is frequently perceived as a “showstopper”. This clearly conflicts with how its colleagues see themselves: as internal “enablers” supporting the value-creating side of the operational business. For legal departments to realise their full potential, their workload must therefore be reduced. Above all, that means getting rid of time-consuming routine tasks.

Optimise the legal intake process

But how can legal teams focus on what really matters while still completing everything else? The first step is to optimise internal processes. Anyone who assigns work casually in passing or at the coffee machine should not be surprised if it is handled incorrectly. The alternative need not be a sophisticated ticketing system; even a request form helps. If such forms are sent to a centrally managed shared inbox, requests can be documented and assigned to a case handler. Cases can be tracked in an Excel spreadsheet which, if prepared appropriately, can serve as a valuable reporting tool as well as showing the status quo. In the long term, however, it is still worth introducing a legal intake ticketing system that requires even less manual work.

Create legally compliant documents more easily

How practical and legally compliant are the company’s contract templates? If the answer is “They could be better”, a surprisingly large proportion of contract templates are suitable for the relevant business department to create itself using IT-supported solutions. Document generators, for example, can provide templates drafted by the legal department to ensure legal compliance. A coordinated set of questions and the resulting automated selection of suitable alternative clauses reduce the need to involve the legal department.

Make knowledge accessible, for example through training

Colleagues often approach the legal department with the same legal questions. And they receive answers that are as detailed as necessary. Collegial though this exchange may be, it takes time. Internal training on recurring topics is a good way to reduce the legal department’s workload. Another possible approach is to create an FAQ and download area on the company intranet with suitable templates and how-to guides. E-learning programmes in particular can be implemented as needed and with little effort.

Support through legal outsourcing

Why do everything yourself? Reviews of contracts and NDAs, warranty cases and legal opinions on individual questions, for example in competition or employment law, consume far too much capacity in day-to-day operations. It makes more sense for legal departments to prioritise their strategic work and delegate routine tasks. When workloads remain high or particular assignments are especially labour-intensive, legal outsourcing provides relief. The guiding principle is: “Outsource the work that keeps you from working.”