Why Effective Legal Ops Management Makes Business Sense and Frees Up Lawyers to Practice Law

“You can have the best tool in the world, but if nobody’s using it, it’s a failure.” That’s just one of many insights from UpLevel Ops Founder Stephanie Corey and COO Liz Lugones on the latest episode of the Technically Legal Podcast. Stephanie and Liz explain why a good legal operations program is a crucial to managing the business side of law, so lawyers can focus on practicing law. Stephanie and Liz say legal ops boils down to managing the business aspects of law–from the people and processes to the technology used. They also point out that having the right people in the right roles improves efficiency and productivity and how well-defined processes can help ensure that everyone knows what they need to do and when. Liz and Stephanie also emphasize that organizations just can’t just throw technology at a pain point to fix it. To make any improvement in legal operations, whether it be adding tech or tweaking a process, the first step is understanding the current state of what is being improved, specific legal department needs and the needs of the clients it serves. They explain why legal ops is not not a one-size-fits-all approach, and that tailoring solutions is crucial. To figure out what their clients need, UpLevel uses thorough assessments to understand the current environment of a legal department and its goals and current processes. Listen to the whole episode.