By learning from others in our community, you can progress faster than you would on your own.
There were many insights to be gleaned from attending the 2018 Legal Procurement Conference. We learned, we networked, we exchanged thoughts and experiences, and opened up channels of communication between buyers and sellers of legal services. Here's a few takeaways.
1. Driving Change
Change hasn't been easy and we still have roads to build, but you are driving real change. You are mapping the course and setting the agenda, and you are taking the lead in determining what's best for your organizations. You demonstrated this during the two panel discussions and we learned more about how Procurement can Leverage Technology (Jo Guy & Michael Tal), the Power of Procurement to Drive Innovation (Denise Nurse), and with Procurement Intelligence, Go Digital or Die (Orazio Difruscolo).
2. Collaboration
We backed everything with data too, from the Critical Elements of Non-Hourly Pricing (Richard Stock), to how Low Hourly Rate is Not the Cheapest Solution (Hans Schuurman) to Bespoke Price Risk-Sharing Models (Richard Burcher). But there was something else a foot. It was the transformative idea that the business of law is creating its own roads and we need to do it together. It's no longer the old model of: if I win that must mean that you lose. Among this high energy Conference was the understanding that interdisciplinary collaboration seems to be a requirement to face the grand challenges before us.
3. You're Awesome!
Repeatedly we heard about the high caliber of attendees, and to this we say, "We know!"
The #LegalProcurement conferences provide not only a place for in-depth talks and presentations by international innovators and illuminators, but it's also a great meeting point. We had procurement professionals representing from in-house council, senior executives, consultants, vendors and even an attorney or two. It was a great opportunity to create connections, share experience and best practices and spark new alliances. The energy was electric and it was all because of who attended.
What did you have to say?
Can we move on?
You are way past explaining the need for Legal Procurement. When a company is set up, is the question ever posed: Should we install electricity? Yet, the question is still posed for Legal Procurement and you, are so over it. And no, you don't buy paper clips.
We hear you. Googling, Legal Procurement, one can still find articles titled, “The Growing Influence of Legal Procurement.” There is still work to be done. We know and that is why we, at the Buying Legal Council, are working on providing the most comprehensive knowledge bank on Legal Procurement, we keep a running log here of articles on Legal Procurement and members can go here to access the knowledge bank. If you need to procure Legal Services, you can find them at BuyingLegal.Guide and lastly, we hope to keep you always updated on the Buying Legal Brief.
“Too much on data not enough on relationships.”
Developing new relationships, building trust and nurturing those relationships is one of the most important things you can do to drive real change. In the 2018 Buying Legal Services Survey, after tenure, it was relationships that proved to show the most savings. We addressed this in our first edition of the Brief here. For resources on relationship-building check out Getting Started under Cheat Sheets in the membership section of the BLC site.
"You're preaching to the choir, we need more recruits."
Yes and yes. We aim to support you with talks and panel discussions that build upon your knowledge base. We also amplify the message. With our Primers and Surveys, for example, we reach a much broader audience. We'd also love to hear your suggestions.
"Better biscuits."
Duly. noted.
You said a lot of good things too, Best thing? You all said that you would recommend the Legal Procurement EMEA Conference to your peers.
Our Legal Procurement Conferences are the place for education on legal procurement. With laser-sharp focus on the buying of legal, alternative and ancillary legal services, we combine sharing best practices and learning new skills with cutting-edge industry insights and academic knowledge contribution.
The Asia Pacific Conference is coming up on 24 July and the the North America Conference is September 5 & 6 in New York.
DEADLINE IS FRIDAY TO APPLY FOR THE 2018 LEGAL PROCUREMENT AWARD!
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018
Please click here to apply.
Unbundling with Andy Banquer
Unbundling and Alternative Sourcing is intended to optimize the allocation of legal resources by engaging third-party personnel. Unbundling is the exercise of identifying distinct legal tasks that can be separated and completed individually. Tasks can be assessed for: Complexity (What are the skills and experience level needed to complete the task?), Volume (Is the task repeatable and does it repeat often enough to justify engaging additional resources?), and Prioritization (Which factors can impact the success of engaging alternate sourcing, such as required turnaround, visibility, importance, and level of risk?).
Watch our short video with Andy Banquer of Elevate Services and download the Legal Spend Management Primer at www.buyinglegal.com/LSM
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Legal Services Sourcing Manager (Johnson & Johnson), Pricing Analyst (Foley & Lardner), Category Manager-Legal (GSK), Legal Operations (Hearst Corporation): Read about it on our Careers page.
FIND PROVIDERS OF ALTERNATIVE & ANCILLARY LEGAL SERVICES
