Digital business transformation for corporate legal departments

Getting the value from transformation

It’s not unusual for organizations to struggle with organizational change. In-house legal departments are no exception.

In the past year, more than 43% of chief legal officers (CLOs) indicated that transformation is a top priority within their legal function.¹ Meanwhile, 82% expect their workload to increase from the previous 12 months. All told, these conditions may be prompting CLOs to consider more efficient and effective ways to drive transformation in their organizations.²

Among legal operations professionals, 67% indicate that clearly and consistently demonstrating the value of their technology is an issue. Additionally, they raise a pair of challenges that may not be on many legal executives’ radar screens: Adoption and change management, 57% say, are the biggest concerns related to technology transformation.³

Are legal operations professionals on to something? Could adoption and change management affect the value and return that legal teams can achieve from their technology investments? They’re interrelated concepts in that the more you design the solution to encourage adoption, the easier it should be to manage the change process overall. What does this mean from a practical standpoint? Download the full article to see how we break it down.

Getting started on the transformation journey

With organizations adapting to more digital ways of working, transformation has become a fact of life for CLOs and their teams. But people are still very much at the center of the workplace, and technology needs to further their needs so they can work toward business outcomes in as seamless a fashion as possible.

As technology becomes more enmeshed in our working lives, the human part—learning, growth, climate, culture, and change—becomes ever more important. Some may fear that technological developments could lead to the dehumanization of work. But CLOs that connect with their people to make their working lives better, with solutions designed to support their needs and empathetic change agents to aid those who are struggling, can stand out to stakeholders in an increasingly impersonal world.

End notes

¹Deloitte, CLO priorities for the legal function (unpublished survey), 2022.

² Deloitte, “A tale of trust and transformation: Highlights from the 2022 CLO and CCO strategy survey,” June 2022.

³Deloitte, 2021 state of legal operations survey, 2021.

Get in Touch

Erin Hess
Chief Legal Officer Program Research and Insights Manager
Manager | Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory
Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP

Lee Merovitz
US Change Services Practice Leader
Managing Director
Deloitte Consulting LLP

Bob Taylor
Managing Director | Legal Business Services
Deloitte Tax LLP