In April, I joined DWF to head up the Global Contracts business. We are passionate about building high-quality, cost-effective end-to-end contract management solutions for clients. Our managed legal services, built on long-term expertise in legal transformation, help our customer thrive. It’s brilliant to step into this role because I have previously experienced what DWF can achieve for clients, and it’s exciting to lead the team and build on its success.
After several years with an international law firm as an M&A lawyer, I spent 17 years in the legal function of a FTSE 100 financial services organisation. Holding senior advisory, transactional, leadership and transformation roles has given me a broad perspective on opportunities to optimise the delivery of diverse legal services across multiple jurisdictions.
In my previous role, I regularly used transformation services from across the legal sector and implemented various managed legal services into my teams. This experience quickly immersed me in the complex world of legal outsourcing. I’ve built a wide network in the legal transformation community, gaining insights into what works and what doesn’t from a client perspective. I’m pleased to share this experience with my team at DWF.
I think we’d all agree that implementing and operating managed legal services is never straightforward. Here are some key principles I’ve found fundamental to a smooth operation:
- Do the groundwork: Have processes and playbooks available for bidders and share as much information as possible to help suppliers support you effectively.
- Minimise ambiguity: Ensure clarity between client and supplier on project requirements.
- Communicate constraints: Be upfront about time, resource, and budget constraints so that suppliers can design solutions that work within them.
Reflecting on my time client side has helped me understand managed legal services and leverage those experiences to improve our offering for DWF clients. I’ve thought a lot about the managed legal service I implemented alongside DWF in my previous role. It’s clear now what a positive experience it was working with them, and the solutions they designed not only met but exceeded my objectives.
Here's a bit more detail on the service DWF provided for my previous team. The client team provided legal advice and support in the areas of lending, security, and cash/account management, negotiated routine documents, and managed operational queries. We decided to outsource selected work types to bolster capacity, and after a competitive pitch, DWF was appointed.
Several critical factors contributed to the project’s success:
- Integrated offering: The UK Finance & Restructuring advisory legal team partnered with the Legal Operations India Delivery Centre for effective knowledge transfer and consistent quality of service delivery. This integrated offering of both deep legal expertise and new law experience was essential to the controlled implementation.
- Prioritizing relationships: Strong relationships between the client and DWF deepened collaboration and created effective feedback loops.
- Governance: DWF’s long-term ALSP experience meant structured engagement from the start including advising on preparation, recommending project structure and process changes, optimizing playbooks, training the delivery team, and implementing robust quality assurance.
- Delivery focus: DWF built a resilient bench of resources to enable flexibility when needed.
- Strong management: An expert PMO function ensured fundamental building blocks were in place and delivered live reporting dashboards for on-demand visibility of delivery and quality data.
Outsourcing this work enabled significant efficiency gains and reduced delivery timescales. For example, process automation led to a 50% reduction in review time for one letter type. The project received universally strong feedback, including from senior GCs. This transformation paved the way for further operational improvements.
In summary, when considering a manged legal service:
- Enter the process with eyes wide open and a transformation mindset. Substantial investment of time and resources is required, although the right partner will significantly ease this pressure.
- Ensure you have appropriate support. If you’re unfamiliar with this type of implementation, consider using a consultant. Objective advice from an expert partner can transform the process.
My experience with implementing a DWF managed legal service was a major factor in my decision to join and lead the Legal Operations’ Global Contracts team.
If you are under pressure to reduce costs, create time, increase efficiency, drive greater value, or ensure you have the right people doing the right work in your teams, please get in touch and share your own experiences. We would love to hear from you.
