Transitioning to Legal Ops: How to Land Your Next Role

Over the past few years, I’ve taken many meetings with legal ops hopefuls. One of the most striking aspects of these calls was the diversity of everyone’s career paths. Despite their divergent backgrounds, they were all interested in transitioning to legal ops.

I’ve chatted with paralegals at conferences and grabbed coffee with practicing attorneys. I’ve clinked cocktail glasses with contract managers and I’ve invited recent law school grads to my office for lunch. Once, I even walked around Coney Island while taking a call from an engineer eager to transition into legal operations. They all lacked the years of experience typically required, but I helped them assess whether their skills, personality, education, and backgrounds were truly transferable.

A master’s degree in legal operations doesn’t exist. This is good news and bad news.

Why it’s good news: Without a standardized master’s program, individuals interested in legal operations can come from various educational backgrounds, such as business management or finance. They could even hold a law degree or a paralegal certification. This flexibility allows for a broader range of skills and perspectives, beneficial for the multidisciplinary approach required in legal operations. Professionals can innovate and develop skills directly aligned with current industry needs and future trends without a rigid academic framework.

Why it’s bad news: The absence of a formal degree might make it harder for individuals to gain a standardized understanding of legal operations. They will need to rely on on-the-job experience, which can vary greatly depending on the size, scope, and scale of their roles. Holding a degree can lend credibility and recognition, and without such a degree, individuals might find they have to work harder to establish their expertise and authority.

While preparing to write this article, I searched “How to get a job in legal operations?” and landed on a legal ops subreddit that I bookmarked for another day. It offered gems such as:

• “Can you define ‘legal ops’?” – A great starting point, as not all legal operations roles are built the same.
• “Legal ops generally means legal tech, but it’s broader.”
• “Legal ops is just legal project management.” – While there’s some truth here, I respectfully disagree.

Defining legal ops

Can you define legal ops? This is an excellent question to start with because not all legal operations roles are built the same. Generally, the leaders of a legal ops team possess a more generalist skillset, while the individuals they hire often have more specialized expertise.

Specialists on the team might include data analysts, contract managers, e-billing coordinators, IT/engineers, eDiscovery professionals, and project managers. The generalists at the helm have diverse experience across one or more of these areas, equipped with the expertise and vision needed to lead effectively. Their leadership skills are sharp, and they depend on a team of specialists, each an expert in their respective domain.

Therefore, when reading a legal operations job description, keep this diversity in mind: not all roles are created equal. Pay attention to the role’s scope, whether it focuses more on strategic planning, technology implementation, financial management, or vendor relations, and ensure these aspects align with your experience and strengths.

Legal ops can generally mean legal tech but it’s broader

Legal operations encompasses more than just managing or implementing legal tech solutions; it’s a broad cover. Efficiently planning, executing, monitoring, and concluding projects is crucial. This process involves setting realistic timelines, managing resources, handling budgets, and ensuring that projects achieve their objectives and remain on track. A key aspect is understanding how legal tech integrates with existing systems and recognizing its capabilities and limitations. Implementing legal tech solutions requires collaboration across various departments, including IT, legal, finance, and with external vendors. Excellent communication skills are essential for negotiating, persuading, and ensuring clear understanding among all parties involved. While legal tech is often equated with legal ops, the role also demands proficiency in project and financial management, integrations, communication, and leadership.

Legal ops is not just legal project management

Legal ops professionals play a critical role in strategic planning, ensuring that the legal department’s goals align with the broader organizational objectives. Their responsibilities extend to managing budgets, forecasting financial needs, analyzing spending patterns, and devising strategies to reduce costs without compromising service quality.

Beyond project management, implementing legal tech solutions demands a deep understanding of how technology can bolster the legal department’s capabilities. Legal ops professionals are dedicated to continually improving processes, not merely managing them. Leaders within legal ops are also tasked with the growth and development of their teams.

While project management skills are essential, the role of legal ops is comprehensive, integrating various disciplines. These elements collectively drive the legal department’s success and align with the broader business strategy, establishing legal operations as a strategic and multifaceted function rather than just project management.

Tips for those transitioning to legal ops:

For those transitioning: Welcome! This function is not for the faint of heart, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

To position yourself for success:

• Emphasize leadership experience, especially in managing teams, strategic planning, and executing large-scale projects.
• Highlight your budget management and cost optimization skills.
• Offer any experience in streamlining processes and using methodologies like Lean or Six Sigma.
• If you have overseen the implementation of new technologies or systems, this is particularly relevant and should be emphasized.

I am not a lawyer, nor have I played one on TV, but having a basic understanding of legal processes, compliance issues, and the general legal landscape is crucial. Consider taking short courses or webinars on legal principles relevant to corporate environments. Network extensively, and if starting as a consultant is necessary, it can be a great way to gain relevant experience and showcase your value directly.

Gain some practical knowledge of the common tools and software used in legal operations, such as contract management systems, e-billing platforms, eDiscovery, intake, and workflow tools. Get to know the vendors that sell these tools, they will also be instrumental allies in your search as they have a wide bench of connections and are very, very helpful.

Networking is crucial

Use your current professional network to connect with individuals in legal operations or related fields. If you have absolutely no overlap with lawyers or legal operations professionals, use informational interviews – they can be incredibly insightful. Become a member of legal operations groups like the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) to meet (soon to be) peers and learn from them.

Position yourself strategically in the marketplace by revamping your resume and leveling up your LinkedIn profile. Tailor your resume to focus on the skills and experiences most relevant to the legal operations role to which you are applying. Look for roles that specifically highlight the skills you possess and do the heavy lifting of updating your resume to highlight relevant experiences that match that skillset. Do not presume a hiring manager can connect the dots and understand how your experience is relevant to the role – especially when changing careers. Paint the picture directly for them.

While you don’t need a specific course or degree to break into legal operations, leveraging your skills and strategically tailoring your resume, elevator pitch, and networking efforts are essential. Remember, even within legal ops, roles can vary greatly from generalists (usually leaders) to specialists. So do your due diligence and if you need some pro-tips on breaking into the industry, call me!