How to Ace the “Justify Your Existence” Conversation

As the global economy starts to stabilize, most organizations are getting out of triage mode and many CEOs are taking a hard look at their org charts to ensure they have the right players for the post-crisis economy.

In PwC’s 2021 CEO Survey, 77% of company leaders said their No. 1 priority was to “seek operational efficiencies,” edging out:

• pursuit of growth
• new products/services
• strategic transactions

In-house Legal Departments will not be exempt from this scrutiny.

Indeed, the rebound of 2021 means most in-house legal teams should assume the “Justify Your Existence” conversation is coming – and the smart in-house teams will be prepared not just to defend their position, but to advance it.

The CEO mindset

Firstly, it’s helpful to start with an understanding of the CEO’s wants and needs.

In a 2020 survey, Chief Executive asked more than 100 CEOs about their relationships with general counsel. It provides helpful background.

Tactical strengths

CEOs said the three areas of greatest impact for in-house Legal Departments are traditional conflict resolution roles:

• litigation/investigation management
• risk management
• crisis management

Strategic weaknesses

Meanwhile, CEOs listed the biggest areas for improvement as:

• business strategy
• industry knowledge

The perceived strategic gap becomes very evident when the CEOs were asked to rank their sitting general counsel against their ideal general counsel. When asked about “acting as a strategic business partner,” 75% said their ideal GC would – but only 55% said their current GC did currently.

Conversely, 25% said their current GC “acts solely as a legal counsellor and manager of legal risk,” but only 8% of CEOs wanted this.

As Chief Executive wrote, “For a CEO, not having a GC who is able to serve as a strategic adviser is the equivalent of a coach at a sporting event with one person missing on the field… A non-strategic GC typically has the reputation of a business blocker, rather than an enabler.”

What does this means for your in-house legal team?

In 2021, it’s more important than ever to show your legal team’s contribution to the company’s strategy. A list of active matters and a promise to stay under budget will not suffice: It’s time to show your value.

Preparing for your sit-down

First, the good news: If you have a legal matter management software in place, you'll have quick access to the data you need to create simple, compelling visualizations.

Xakia’s white paper, Best-in-Class Legal Reporting, can help you get started with practical advice and examples, including specific advice on reports for the C-suite.

Now the other good news: If you do not yet have a modern matter management solution in place, this can be an effective foundation for the “Justify Your Existence” conversation.

Consider these talking points for your boss:

• We are committed to being a strategic value-add to this company. We acknowledge that a key part of this will lie in measuring our performance and contribution to strategic goals.
• To that end, we plan to adopt a modern matter management system that will allow us to:
  • Implement a legal intake system where we can triage, respond to, and track requests from business clients
  • Track our work to eliminate the risk of missed deadlines and to ensure the smartest, most cost-effective resourcing
  • Better monitor our legal spending to stay on track for this year’s budget and build better budgets in the future
  • Access legal data and metrics behind our work to help us forecast potential problems and assess our work by risk profile and strategic value
  •  Extract the highest return possible from our legal technology investments
• With this legal management software, we can show you – in seconds – our most high-risk matters and the specific ways we are advancing the priorities set forth by you and the board.
• In fact, we can create a custom report that addresses our risk, strategy and budget for you.

This sounds like a big promise because it is. However, it is possible with a legal matter management software.

Xakia - matter management software for corporate legal departments

Xakia is your all-in-one cloud based legal management software, built specifically for in-house legal teams. Book a demo today or sign up for a 14-day free pilot to see how the platform works.

Download our guide to better matter management

But in one final piece of good news, we have created a guide to Modern Matter Management.

This field guide is designed to help Legal Departments assess their needs, evaluate software options, and craft successful implementation plans. It includes:

• A look at key features of modern matter management
• A master checklist for scouting potential solutions
• Guidance for approval and rollout, including an ROI calculator
• A sample project plan

Although our guide also contains a list of signs you’re ready for modern legal matter management, here’s a big one: Anxiety over meetings with the C-suite.

Whether it’s a “justify your existence” conversation, or a quarterly meeting, calm your nerves with a reliable infrastructure for your Legal Department that makes everyday work easier – and big meetings a source of pride, not panic.