Legal Technology Tools refer to the various solutions that in-house legal teams can use to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their contracting operations.

Legal technology, in this context, includes any tool or process that increases productivity per unit of legal effort—not just software or high-tech solutions.

A checklist, structured templates, workflow automation, AI-powered contract review tools, and contract lifecycle management (CLM) platforms all qualify as legal technology tools.

The focus of this enabler is practical, easy-to-implement solutions that improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of legal team operations, without requiring extensive financial investment.

This definition ensures that Legal Technology Tools are accessible to all legal teams, regardless of budget, making technology adoption an achievable and strategic goal for any organization.

Legal Technology Tools help reduce manual workloads, streamline contract management, enhance compliance, and provide better insights into legal operations.

Legal teams that fail to adopt technology-driven tools experience slower contract cycles, higher costs, inefficiencies, and increased legal risks.

The Legal Technology Tools enabler includes a wide range of productivity-enhancing solutions, such as:

◼️ Checklists & Playbooks: Structured guides that standardize legal processes and improve consistency.

◼️ Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software: Tools for contract creation, execution, and monitoring.

◼️ AI-Powered Contract Review: AI-based tools that analyze contracts for risk and compliance.

◼️ Workflow Automation: Process automation for approvals, contract routing, and obligation tracking.

◼️ E-Signature Solutions: Platforms that enable digital contract execution, reducing time-to-signature.

◼️ Clause Libraries: Pre-approved, reusable contract clauses for faster and standardized contract drafting.

◼️ Data Analytics & Reporting Tools: Systems that provide insights into contract performance and risks.

◼️ Knowledge Management Systems: Centralized repositories for legal documents, policies, and templates.

◼️ Collaboration Platforms: Digital tools that facilitate communication between legal, procurement, and business teams.

◼️ Compliance & Risk Management Tools: Systems for tracking legal and regulatory compliance obligations.

In GLS legal ops, Legal Technology Tools are considered both a "Foundational" and "Repeater" resource within legal operations.

◼️ A Foundational Resource: Determines the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the contracting process by reducing manual effort and increasing legal team productivity.

◼️ A Repeater Resource: Supports multiple legal functions, meaning optimized technology tools improve contracting, compliance, litigation, and corporate governance workflows.

◼️ Legal Technology Tools ensure legal teams can scale operations, manage higher workloads, and focus on strategic legal matters instead of routine administrative tasks.

The best practice features of Legal Technology Tools include:

◼️ Accessibility: Designed to be easy to adopt, ensuring usability by legal teams of all sizes.

◼️ Process-Driven Efficiency: Focused on increasing productivity without requiring additional headcount.

◼️ Integration Capabilities: Works seamlessly with existing business and legal systems.

◼️ Scalability: Supports both small and large legal teams as operations expand.

◼️ Low-Cost Implementation Options: Includes both high-tech solutions and simple tools like checklists.

◼️ Automation-Enabled: Reduces reliance on manual legal processes and repetitive tasks.

◼️ Compliance-Embedded: Ensures legal and regulatory adherence through built-in monitoring features.

◼️ User-Friendly Interfaces: Designed for intuitive use by legal professionals and business stakeholders.

◼️ Data-Driven Decision Making: Provides actionable insights into legal and contracting performance.

◼️ Security & Confidentiality: Ensures legal data is protected and accessed only by authorized personnel.

The Legal Technology Tools enabler delivers significant value to the business:

◼️ Increased Legal Productivity: Enhances legal team efficiency by reducing manual effort.

◼️ Faster Contract Execution: Reduces contract turnaround times with automated workflows.

◼️ Cost Reduction: Lowers external legal costs and administrative overhead.

◼️ Improved Risk Management: Identifies and mitigates legal risks early through AI-driven analysis.

◼️ Operational Efficiency: Reduces bottlenecks in contract approval and execution.

◼️ Enhanced Compliance: Ensures all contracts meet legal and regulatory requirements.

◼️ Better Decision-Making: Provides data-driven insights into legal operations.

◼️ Stronger Internal Collaboration: Improves coordination between legal, procurement, finance, and business teams.

◼️ Scalability for Growth: Allows legal teams to handle increasing workloads efficiently.

◼️ Higher Business Agility: Enables quicker response times to legal and regulatory changes.

Legal Technology Tools provide the following benefits for the legal department:

◼️ Streamlined Legal Workflows: Reduces administrative burdens on legal professionals.

◼️ Improved Contract Oversight: Ensures real-time tracking of contract performance.

◼️ Reduction in Manual Tasks: Automates routine legal operations to improve efficiency.

◼️ Faster Legal Reviews: AI and automation tools speed up contract and document analysis.

◼️ Enhanced Compliance Tracking: Ensures legal teams stay aligned with regulatory requirements.

◼️ Lower External Legal Spend: Reduces reliance on outside counsel for routine contract tasks.

◼️ Better Document & Knowledge Management: Organizes legal templates and policies for easy access.

◼️ Stronger Risk Mitigation: Helps prevent contract-related disputes and compliance issues.

◼️ Efficient Resource Allocation: Ensures legal professionals focus on strategic tasks rather than administrative work.

◼️ Training & Adoption Support: Provides structured onboarding for legal teams to maximize tool effectiveness.

Legal Technology Tools are essential for:

◼️ Legal Teams: To enhance efficiency, manage workload, and improve compliance.

◼️ Contract Administrators: To track contract performance and manage obligations.

◼️ Procurement Teams: To streamline vendor contract execution.

◼️ Sales & Commercial Teams: To manage customer contracts efficiently.

◼️ Finance & Risk Officers: To track financial and legal risks in contracts.

◼️ Compliance Officers: To ensure contracts adhere to regulatory requirements.

◼️ Operations Teams: To align contract execution with business processes.

◼️ Legal Operations Teams: To implement and optimize legal technology adoption.

◼️ Senior Executives: To oversee legal risk management and strategic decision-making.

◼️ External Legal Counsel: To integrate with in-house legal technology workflows.

A business that does not implement Legal Technology Tools will experience:

◼️ Slower Contract Cycles: Manual processes delay contract execution.

◼️ Higher Legal Costs: Increased reliance on external legal support.

◼️ Inconsistent Legal Workflows: Lack of automation results in inefficient contract management.

◼️ Increased Compliance Risks: No automated monitoring of regulatory requirements.

◼️ Limited Visibility into Legal Operations: Lack of reporting and contract performance tracking.

◼️ Increased Bottlenecks: Delays in approvals and obligation tracking.

◼️ Lost Business Opportunities: Slow contract processing impacts revenue generation.

◼️ Weaker Risk Management: Lack of AI-driven analysis increases legal exposure.

◼️ Higher Workload for Legal Teams: Excessive manual work impacts legal team productivity.

◼️ Poor Collaboration: Lack of integration between legal, finance, procurement, and business teams.

Implementing Legal Technology Tools requires consideration of:

◼️ CLM System Integration: Ensuring seamless contract tracking and automation.

◼️ AI-Powered Contract Review: Utilizing AI for risk analysis and compliance checks.

◼️ Workflow Automation: Automating legal approval processes and document routing.

◼️ E-Signature & Digital Execution: Enabling secure and efficient contract execution.

◼️ Data Analytics & Reporting Dashboards: Providing insights into legal performance.

◼️ Secure Knowledge Management Systems: Protecting and organizing legal documents.

◼️ Collaboration Platforms: Enhancing team coordination across legal and business units.

◼️ Compliance Monitoring Tools: Tracking adherence to regulatory requirements.

◼️ Scalability & Customization: Adapting tools to evolving legal and business needs.

◼️ User Training & Adoption Support: Ensuring teams maximize the benefits of technology adoption.

The GLS Knowledge Centre has a wealth of resources available for learning more about the importance of the Group Legal Policy and how you can effectively implement one - check out a few on the right.

The GLS Legal Operations Centre contains everything you need to effectively implement your own tailored Group Legal Policy in a cost-effective and timely manner. Check out the resources linked on the right. 

Also, feel free to contact GLS to book a consult to discuss your Group Legal Policy needs right here.