Contract Heroes

Legal Operations: The Key To Unlocking Business Success With Mike Haven

Episode Summary

Are legal departments really hindering business growth? It seems that many CFOs believe so, but is this perception accurate? In fact, the truth may be quite the opposite. Legal departments are not just gatekeepers of legal compliance, but can actually be key enablers of business success. In this episode of the Contract Heroes Podcast, we are joined by Mike Haven. Mike is the current President of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), a renowned organization dedicated to the advancement of the business of law. In addition to his role at CLOC, he serves as the Head of Legal Operations and Associate General Counsel at Intel Corporation, the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer. Mike has also previously held in-house positions at NetApp and Gap Inc. During our conversation with Mike, we gain valuable insights into the potential benefits of legal operations in enhancing the efficiency of other departments. We dive deep into the crucial role of legal operations in streamlining corporate processes, reducing legal touchpoints for lower risk and complexity agreements, and promoting a culture where legal is viewed as a strategic business partner. We also explore strategies for driving user adoption of CLM tools, leveraging AI functionality in CLM tools, and outsourcing legal operations. We conclude our conversation by sharing key considerations for organizations looking to establish a successful legal operations role. Tune in for these and much more!

Episode Notes

WHAT WE DISCUSS:

• [00:41] - Mike’s background and how he got into legal operations
• [02:22] - How legal operations help other departments in making their legal operations more efficient
• [06:39] - Strategies for legal ops to drive user adoption of a new CLM system in other departments
• [08:22] - Implementing a CLM tool in large  organizations: Strategies for gaining buy-in and securing budget
• [10:53] - The type of data legal team can surface to other departments to help guide business decisions 
• [12:44] - AI functionality in CLM tools
• [13:51] - The future of chatbots and conversational AI: Predictions for availability and adoption
• [16:50] - Building a legal operations team: Justifying the investment with data and reports that appeal to the CFO
• [17:54] - Demonstrating the business value of legal operations
• [20:34] - The trend of outsourcing legal operations 
• [22:09] - Building a Legal Ops role

NOTABLE QUOTES:

• [02:25] - “One of the coolest things about legal operations is its breadth of scope, not only relative to what we do in the various functional areas we cover but also in terms of who we work with.” - Mike Haven
• [04:18] - “Historically, legal departments have erred on the side of caution, probably spending more time on contract processes and review than is really needed. And with modern technology, that's becoming more and more true.” - Mike Haven
• [05:00] - “I've heard recently about a couple of misguided companies reducing or eliminating legal staff due to hard economic times, which in my view is crazy. I feel they should be doing the exact opposite.” - Mike Haven
• [05:25] “Innovation is no longer something that will be required at some point in the future. It's no longer optional. We have to get more out of the resources allocated to us by the company to keep the business running and to absorb incremental business demand and deliver results that directly impact the bottom line in a positive way.” - Mike Haven
• [10:54] - “Contracts are touch points between legal and the business and through sound use of process and technology, legal can leverage the treasure trove of data in contracts to provide data insights to the business.” - Mike Haven