Introducing our monthly blog from Xakia CEO Jodie Baker, with her stream-of-consciousness thoughts – and insights – on today’s in-house legal market.
Keep it simple. The more complex the problem statement, the more complex the solution. So, keep it simple.
We’ve seen more than a thousand LegalTech projects come through our door (both Xakia projects, and those of a different nature), and I’ve noticed a very clear distinction between the ones that succeed and the ones that fail: simplicity. The projects that fail are the ones that include vast layers of complexity from the beginning – the reach for utopia, the desire to solve every problem in a single moment or allow the pursuit of perfection to get in the way of progress.
My advice: start simple with a wide, clear and uncomplicated mandate.
In-house legal teams have many issues to resolve, but you simply cannot expect busy lawyers and paralegals to digest change for every problem at once. Add layers of complexity once the foundations have been laid and are solid, known and comfortable.
🌟Shoot for the stars, but only when the rocket ship 🚀 has been built.
Benefits of keeping a LegalTech project simple:
Example:
Simple: We want to improve visibility of work across our team.
Complex: We want to improve visibility of work across our team for matters that require more than three hours of work and do not involve a law firm, but where the matter does involve a law firm we want to be able to capture all matters irrespective of size AND the cost estimate AND the rationale for the engagement AND ...
All these things may be useful, but every requirement adds complexity and requires a lot more onboarding, training and change management for every single member of the team.
So, keep it simple and guarantee yourself a successful LegalTech project. You will get to the next layer of complexity much faster.
To help your department keep things simple, start with a solid strategic plan. Click here to download our strategic plan template and instructions to complete it.