Managing Your Department’s Internal Communications

In an interview, Joan Fox of Legal Suite discusses changes in the ways in-house legal departments are managing internal communications. The work from home trend has complicated the process. Managing internal clients, projects, and contract negotiations without visibility or control over workstations creates new risks, and separates attorneys from their primary function, practicing law. According to Fox, new technology solutions can solve these problems. “You should be asking, what in this system is helping me immediately provide legal advice to my internal client?” she says. “Can internal clients communicate without legal being aware? Is there a system tracking activity history, not only for legal department users but for internal clients as well? If documents are downloaded or documents are sent out, there’s a little more visibility over that activity.” She notes that there are many studies about email and the stress that it causes. Being able to take something from the beginning through to conclusion and close it without having to say, “You need to send another email,” is vital to avoiding burnout.