Is it Time to Augment Your In-House Legal Team? Making the Business Case for Additional Resources

When was the last time you truly took stock of your current operating state? You may think you are “running lean and mean” or completely “right sized” for the level of support your organization needs. But are you sure? With the end of the year nearing and budget discussions on the horizon, now is an ideal time to evaluate whether your team is properly staffed for the projects and projections in the year ahead.

Pressing Matters

What are you hearing from your internal customers and legal team? More importantly, what is going unsaid? To begin a proper assessment of your current state, review your department’s historical data and performance metrics. Then ask yourself the following questions:

Customer Satisfaction – Is your department staffed to move at the speed of business and to provide real-time guidance? Is legal support accessible and available to stakeholders when needed? Are your internal business partners satisfied with the level of service they are receiving? If your customers are grumbling or you are noticing a lag in service, it is definitely time to add headcount.

Employee Retention & Morale – Are your top performers overworked? If your best employees are voluntarily resigning or consistently demonstrating work habits suggestive of poor work-life balance (e.g., frequent evening and weekend work, inability to take personal time off), it is likely time to grow your team. Remember, attorneys overwhelmingly cite greater work-life balance as their primary motivation for moving in-house.

Outside Counsel Spend – Are you heavily reliant on third-party service providers? Have you noticed a sustained increase in outside counsel spend? If so, consider whether it would be more cost effective to perform some of that outsourced work in-house.

If you are noticing any of these issues or trends, it is time to take immediate action. But growth does not always have to be reactive.

Forward Thinking

We all know that change is inevitable, so proactively augmenting your legal department can be a strategic move. Consider what is happening in your office, organization, and industry. Are you noticing or anticipating any of the following:

Insufficient Succession Planning – Recruiting top talent is difficult. If a leader in your department leaves the company, or is asked to support another area of the business, is there someone who can step in and pick up the reins? If not, it may make sense to create a talent pipeline to minimize the risk of challenging transitions.

Corporate Growth – Is your company expanding? M&A activity, specifically due diligence and post-merger integration, may create a need for additional legal support. Likewise, as your business grows and innovates, you may encounter novel legal issues that require additional attention and specialized expertise.

Legal & Regulatory Changes – Do you anticipate changes in the legal or regulatory landscape within your industry? If so, this could result in an uptick in work, increased legislative tracking, and the need for additional legal oversight and compliance support.

If any of these potential changes are on the horizon, be proactive. Afterall, the best defense is often a good offense.

Opportunities

After completing your evaluation, conduct relevant research and prepare a budget proposal that includes a compelling gap analysis. Be sure to specifically address your current challenges and anticipated organizational growth and developments. Benchmarking data like that found in the 2024 ACC Law Department Management Benchmarking Survey can help you prepare for the future and demonstrate how your team compares to your competitors and peers.

At the end of the day, the obvious answer may be launching a search for a new permanent team member (lawyer, compliance professional, paralegal, contracts manager, legal operations specialist, etc.). Adding permanent headcount will require you to make a solid business case. Bringing someone in-house is an ongoing investment in your legal function but, over time, may be more cost effective than relying on outside counsel and other third-party vendors. Major, Lindsey & Africa’s Make-Buy Analysis Tool can help you demonstrate the potential value in hiring. That said, you may also accomplish certain objectives by enhancing your technology toolbox or relying on interim solutions.

Used correctly, technology tools and AI can automate tasks, streamline legal and administrative processes, increase productivity, and reduce costs and workload. In fact, many legal departments are already leveraging AI for workflow management, contract review, document generation, e-discovery, and legal research. Investing in technology can be a helpful solution and may sometimes be an easier sell to those who hold the purse strings.

If your hiring need is urgent, short-term, or uncertain in duration—or if the budget simply is not there—recruiting a permanent staff member may not be practical or realistic. In these instances, consider contacting your outside counsel to explore the option of a secondee. Secondment arrangements offer a unique opportunity to address temporary staffing needs while supporting the professional growth and development of an early career attorney. Alternatively, you may explore bringing on a contract attorney. Many legal departments overlook contract attorneys based on a mistaken belief that they are inexperienced or can only handle unsophisticated tasks. To the contrary, interim counsel are often experienced lawyers with many years of practice expertise. They can work on a wide array of complex matters and provide immediate support.

Choosing when and how to augment your legal department can be a delicate dance. You must weigh the internal and external factors affecting your team and the greater organization. Adding headcount, whether permanent or temporary, is a worthwhile investment—but not always possible. Technology may provide a level of relief in those cases where budgets are extremely tight. Look at all your options and go into any conversations with your leadership well-prepared with data-driven insights and justification. The better your business case, the more likely you are to secure the necessary funding.