Legal Ops Vendor Management: From Oversight to Strategy

Cobblestone Software’s Sean Heck writes that organizations are rethinking legal ops vendor management in the face of third-party risk, expanding digital ecosystems, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. 

The growing volume and complexity of vendor relationships have made traditional oversight models unsustainable. As organizations onboard more third parties, it is important not to miss critical risk signals, increasing the likelihood of security incidents and compliance failures. 

Continuous assessment has become essential, from structured vendor questionnaires and dynamic scorecards to ongoing monitoring. Legal ops teams are increasingly focused on such indicators as compliance rates, delivery performance, and emerging risk patterns, all of which support defensible, audit-ready decision-making.

This emphasis on continuous oversight extends directly into sanctions and regulatory compliance. Enforcement activity has made clear that lapses in screening and monitoring carry steep financial and reputational consequences. Recurring automated compliance checking and real-time alerts now play a central role in helping organizations detect changes in vendor risk status early, rather than reacting after violations occur. Leading vendor management platforms can automatically run recurring compliance checks, such as Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) screenings, while also helping organizations align with frameworks like System and Organization Control (SOC) 2 CC9.2 and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001:2022.

Document management has become a cornerstone of effective vendor governance. Centralized repositories with robust search, tracking, and expiration alerts help legal ops teams maintain visibility while bolstering the audit trails required by compliance frameworks. Moreover, integrated workflows prevent gaps that can emerge when documents are scattered across systems.

Taken together, these changes signal a maturation of vendor management into a strategic capability. As third-party risk continues to rise, legal ops professionals are expected to deliver real-time insight, continuous compliance, and resilient oversight across the vendor lifecycle.