In today's fast-paced legal world, off-the-shelf legal technology solutions often miss the mark for in-house legal teams. These legal tech tools usually follow a one-size-fits-all model. This does not always suit the unique workflows of different legal departments. They lack the flexibility needed to adapt to specific needs, making integration with existing systems a complex and time-consuming task that often requires IT support. Additionally, the high upfront costs and ongoing subscription fees can be a significant obstacle for many organisations.
Why in-house lawyers are turning to Microsoft
Microsoft products offer a versatile, highly customisable, and sometimes cheaper alternative to out-of-the-box legal tech solutions on the market.
Microsoft's suite of tools is perfect for a wide range of tasks, from document management to contract lifecycle and matter management. These products can be tailored to meet specific legal requirements and workflows, ensuring a better fit for individual teams and the way their people work.
Microsoft-based solutions typically integrate seamlessly with existing systems, often aligning with enterprise-wide IT policies. When legal teams creatively leverage Microsoft-based solutions as part of an existing corporate subscription, they can also be more cost-effective than some legal technology tools.
The versatility of Microsoft products for legal operations
In-house legal teams can harness the diverse range of capabilities that Microsoft products offer to meet their specific needs. For instance:
- When designed for legal, SharePoint can be used for document management. It allows legal teams to store, organise, and collaborate on legal documents with ease, ensuring easy access and version control.
- Microsoft Power Automate and Power Apps can automate contract workflows, reducing manual effort and errors in both creation and renewal tasks. Additionally, Microsoft Power Automate can automate repetitive tasks and integrate with other systems across the business, such as legal spend management tools, streamlining workflows.
- Utilising the Microsoft infrastructure for legal intake allows for matter-centric metadata to be pushed across the system, enabling high-level reporting and recording.
- Data analysis and visualisation are also enhanced through Power BI, which can be used to analyse legal data and create visualisations to identify trends and insights.
By combining these products, legal teams can create a comprehensive legal platform that centralises all aspects of their work, customises workflows, integrates with existing systems, and creates a foundation to leverage AI and machine learning tools for enhanced legal processes.
Two common pitfalls with new tech projects, mitigated by using Microsoft
1. Underestimating the importance of change management
One of the biggest challenges with new tech projects isn't actually about the tech at all – it's the people. Lawyers who are comfortable with their current processes can be highly resistant to change. Even the best technologies will fail if the right steps aren't taken to drive new behaviours and ways of working.
Mitigated with Microsoft: Microsoft's familiar look and feel often greatly helps with user adoption for in-house legal teams. Of course, for any tech project, it is essential to get the basics right:
- Define clear objectives at the outset
- Involve business stakeholders early on
- Conduct pilot testing
- Provide structured training and support
- Continuously evaluate and improve the solution.
2. Progressing with the project before engaging IT
The allure of a better working life with new technologies can tempt in-house teams. Sometimes, legal teams can go all the way through the technology selection process before engaging with IT. This can quickly undo a lot of time and effort spent on the project if technical limitations and data security/privacy issues haven't been taken into account.
Mitigated with Microsoft: Organisations often already have the necessary clearances in place for Microsoft solutions. It's less likely that you will encounter issues. However, it is still important to engage with your IT team as early as possible to ensure there are no nasty surprises later in your project.
Case studies on customising Microsoft for legal needs
One of our clients is a global shipping company. They faced significant challenges in managing a vast volume of complex financial agreements related to their vessel fleet. These agreements contained critical financial and reporting obligations. The company needed a solution to easily access, search, and manage these contracts while ensuring compliance with deadlines.
We collaborated with the client to design a central digital repository on the Microsoft Power Platform, which provided robust user access controls and security. This platform allowed the client to group transaction documents, capture structured data, and generate automated notifications for reporting deadlines.
The result was a secure, centralised contract repository that improved information access, provided data-driven insights, and ensured timely action on contractual obligations. Read more.
Another client needed a solution to provide greater visibility and control over legal work streams while leveraging existing technology. We tailored our Matter Hub solution, built on Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform, to meet their specific requirements. This included a self-service resource library, new workflows, and data fields to capture granular information.
The solution reduced onboarding time, provided seamless integration with existing technology, and offered valuable data analytics. This enabled the legal team to prioritise high-value strategic work, improve relationships with the wider business, and ensure data security and privacy. Read more.
Jacob Regan, Solutions Consultant at Norton Rose Fulbright wrote this article. If you're looking to explore what's possible with Microsoft for your team, get in touch with the Norton Rose Fulbright team.
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