Optimizing Legal Operations to Replace the “Department of No”
January 20, 2025

According to Michael Theise of Brightflag, optimizing legal operations is critical for in-house legal teams aiming to manage workloads efficiently while maximizing their value to the business. A blueprint for legal operations professionals in 2025 includes streamlining processes, embracing technology, and expanding collaboration with other business functions.
Begin by analyzing where the legal team spends its time and resources. Use data from matter management systems to identify time-intensive, low-impact tasks that could be delegated or automated. In addition, solicit feedback from team members to uncover less visible pain points, enabling more targeted workflow improvements.
Automation offers significant efficiency gains, especially in repetitive tasks like invoicing, contract management, or document review. Leverage data on bottlenecks to justify investments in automation tools and ensure these solutions address specific inefficiencies. Demonstrating return on investment is crucial to securing stakeholder buy-in for new technologies or upgrades to existing systems.
By adopting legal-specific AI tools, legal operations professionals can enhance efficiency in areas like eDiscovery, invoice review, and matter management. Such tools offer tailored capabilities and compliance safeguards, reducing risks associated with general-purpose AI. Starting small and expanding AI integration as confidence grows can ease adoption challenges.
Legal operations professionals should engage with organizational stakeholders to gather feedback on legal performance and identify disconnects. By aligning the department’s efforts with business objectives, they can address pain points such as slow service delivery or overly complex processes. They should also communicate successes, like streamlined processes or cost savings, to enhance legal’s reputation and secure support for future initiatives.
Optimizing legal operations by addressing inefficiencies, integrating advanced technologies, and improving stakeholder relationships can position legal departments as strategic contributors to organizational success in 2025 and beyond.
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