what is ops attorney

by Dr. Roy Morar 8 min read

Legal operations (also called “legal ops) is the combination of all the business activities, processes, and people that empower an in-house legal team to serve a company’s legal needs using a strategic business approach.

Full Answer

What is legal Ops?

OPS Law and Legal Definition. According to 49 CFR 190.3 [Title 49 – Transportation; Subtitle B Other Regulations Relating To Transportation; Chapter I Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Department Of Transportation; Subchapter D Pipeline Safety; Part 190 Pipeline Safety Programs And Rulemaking Procedures; Subpart A – General], OPS means “the Office of …

How many legal departments have a legal ops team?

Jun 11, 2021 · Legal operations (also called “legal ops) is the combination of all the business activities, processes, and people that empower an in-house legal team to serve a company’s legal needs using a strategic business approach.

What is Ops employment?

Jun 09, 2015 · Other Personal Services (OPS) employment is a temporary employer/employee relationship used solely for accomplishing short term or intermittent tasks. OPS employees do not fill established positions and may not be assigned the duties of any vacant authorized position. For information on the terms and conditions of OPS employment and what benefits …

What does a legal operations professional do?

“Legal operations” (or legal ops) describes a set of business processes, activities, and the professionals who enable legal departments to serve their clients more effectively by applying business and technical practices to the delivery of legal services.

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Legal Ops in a Nutshell (Core Competencies)

A good place to start learning about legal operations is with CLOC, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, a non-profit organization of legal operations professionals formed to educate, share best practices, network, and drive change across the “corporate legal services ecosystem.” The ACC also has a popular legal ops group and the newer Legal Value Network also has a solid contingent of legal operations professionals..

Legal Ops Professionals Connect Legal and Business

Frances Pomposo, Head of Legal Operations at Workday, says legal operations is “a multifaceted function that serves as the business function of a legal department.” Pomposo notes that “the legal department has a unique perspective since it connects with all areas of the business and the legal operations team ends up being involved in a number of initiatives that fall into the categories outside the legal department”..

Legal Operations: A Changing Role

Pomposo says she touches nearly every area of the legal department and ends up supporting many initiatives outside the department as well. She also points out that “if you are in legal operations then you essentially need to be prepared for surprises and change every day. That’s part of what makes the role so interesting.

Are Legal Ops Managers Attorneys?

Not always. Many legal operations professionals are attorneys, but many also have business backgrounds (such as MBAs) and others have project management experience. In fact in another recent Altman Weil survey of Chief Legal Officers, less than 25% of them said that their legal operations director held a law degree.

Want to Learn More?

Looking for legal operations resources? As noted, the CLOC website is a great legal operations resource and the Association of Corporate Counsel also has a legal operations section with legal ops resources for its members. Another great legal operations resource is Simple Legal’s Resource Page.

Need Help?

Looking to optimize your legal operations? Let us know. We are a legal technology and services company helping clients tackle legal operations, legal processes and electronic document review. Learn more about how we help legal teams get their work done.

What was the goal of Legal Ops?

The goal was simple: reduce outside counsel costs. The ’90s – mid-2000s saw an official, more complex legal operations department that facilitated heavier use of outside counsel even though keeping costs low was still a goal. The major transformation began in the mid-2000s and carried on to 2019. Legal ops began to focus on not just reducing costs ...

What is legal operations?

Legal operations (also called “legal ops) is the combination of all the business activities, processes, and people that empower an in-house legal team to serve a company’s legal needs using a strategic business approach. Unlike the legal administration team in law firms, which focuses on admin tasks like answering calls, drafting documents, ...

Is legal operations effective without technology?

Legal operations is not nearly as effective without technology. 67% of chief legal officers say that technology is the main factor for efficiency within their department. Tech allows you to automate manual work, streamline document management, and simplify data collection and reporting to name a few.

What is the job of a legal operations manager?

Where there’s no director of legal operations (the head of legal operations), the legal operations manager also reports directly to the general counsel and oversees tasks like resource allocation, change management, and decision-making. Legal operations specialist: Works with the legal operations manager to create and improve processes ...

What is the role of legal departments?

Legal departments have a company-wide responsibility to protect and grow the business while also managing internal and outside counsel budgets. They face increasing pressure to do more with less. That’s where legal operations comes in.

WHAT IS OPS?

Other Personal Services (OPS) employment is a temporary employer/employee relationship used solely for accomplishing short term or intermittent tasks. OPS employees do not fill established positions and may not be assigned the duties of any vacant authorized position.

HRM Policy Communications

Military Leave Without Pay Provisions for Eligible Other Personal Services Employees [Rev 6-9-15] ( 299.60 KB)

What is legal operations?

The legal operations group consists of a person (or persons) and typically sits within the legal function of a company. The group usually reports directly to the general counsel and is responsible for the “operations” of the legal department, ultimately looking to maximize the efficient delivery of legal services throughout the company. ...

Why do legal operations groups focus on financial matters?

Most legal operations groups focus on financial matters because that is where the biggest benefit lies, i.e., getting the legal department on a firm financial footing with accurate forecasting and accruals of legal spending and identifying the right firm for the right project at the right price.

What is legal operations?

Legal operations means running in-house legal like a business, focusing on competencies like financial management, analytics and service design to make legal efficient, effective and fit for the modern business.

Legal operations competencies

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium is one of the leading industry bodies working to make in-house legal more efficient, effective, and fit for the modern business. CLOC has a helpful framework of 12 competencies, ranging from foundational through advanced and mature levels, through which to understand legal operations.

Legal operations in 2022

A mature legal department with effective legal operations should have developed a high level of competency in each of these core areas.

The ACC Maturity Model

The ACC Maturity Model is yet another way to measure and determine how sophisticated legal operations are within a legal department.

Tools for legal ops teams

Need to set up your legal function and scale it fast, but not sure which legal tech you need? Category by category, we've curated the best tools to jump start your legal team today. We've covered:

Legal ops leaders: innovator interviews

Ioana Badiu, Legal innovation and operations manager, UiPath | Legal operations for hypergrowth:

Legal operations resources

You've just joined a high-growth tech company as its first lawyer. How do you get from square one to a dynamic, robust, scalable legal function? We gathered expert insight from legal leaders at some of the world's fastest-growing businesses, including Intercom, Babylon Health, Onfido and Monzo, to find out. Download it here: Legal for Scaleups.

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