More Legal and IT Departments—Albeit Begrudgingly—Are Evaluating Legal Tech Together

More and more corporate legal departments are buying legal technology, such as: Contract lifecycle management tools. But does someone tell the information technology department? Consultants say it is still quite common for IT departments to remain in the dark during the legal technology selection process. However, the advent of legal ops and other evolving business norms are forcing IT and legal to work closely together.

Marc Allen, advisory director of HBR Consulting, noted that the amalgamation of the legal and general tech budgets is one factor driving IT to have a greater say in legal tech decisions. As licensing and maintenance fees for legal technologies are taken from their shared budget, IT is increasingly being included in the selection of legal technologies.

In addition, legal operations professionals are leading closer collaboration between legal and IT, Allen said. And when IT is unavailable or unable to support legal technology, Legal Ops also outsources legal technology management, he added.

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