If your company was like most, 2020 was no banner year. A recent study from HBR Consulting showed that most law departments are looking to cut operational costs by various means, including losing employees. 

Simultaneously, these same companies are seeing an increase in legal demand. So the question has to be asked: How does a company increase output while decreasing overhead? 

It’s no surprise to see that many law departments are turning to technology as their answer. 

Increasing Demand

Managing Director at HBR and Survey Editor Lauren Chung stated, “Law departments are relying on their in-house legal resources to help address growing demand and stay close to the evolving needs of the business. In the current environment, the role of the in-house legal team has become even more critical. Many law departments are therefore keeping and, in some instances, building up their internal teams while seeking other primary methods for cost control.” 

The survey results found that 50% of the law departments surveyed are increasing the workload of existing resources 48% are looking to redistribute work “appropriate resources.” This shift in work redistribution is a 37% increase since 2019. 

The downside to this is that if a company doesn’t have the right tools, an increased workload can lead to a burnt-out legal team. 

Decreasing Overhead

During these challenging times of COVID-19, companies are seeking out ways to decrease their total overhead costs by any means. Unfortunately, the easiest way to cut costs is by reducing the number of staff members.

But increased demand makes it nearly impossible to cut down on employees from the legal team. Instead, companies must cut costs in other staffing areas, namely support staff and other operational roles. 

This loss of staffing leaves gaps in their operational/support duties, and the company must address these gaps to continue to meet their high demand. 

Turning to Technology

The solution most of these legal teams are turning too is technology. HBR’s Survey found that 46% of law department respondents reported an increase in technology as the number one method to handle the increased demand. This finding is a staggering 37% jump compared to the results in 2019. 

And it’s no surprise that technology is the answer. The issue here is that the solution leads to another question. 

On the issue of these results, Lauren Chung added, “The technology question that law departments need to answer is how to drive user adoption of tools that have a direct and meaningful impact on legal service delivery.” 

In other words, how do these legal teams ensure they have the right tools to adequately and efficiently meet their demand? 

The Answer is Zendoc

Zendoc is an AI-powered contract automation platform designed to help legal teams stay on top of their contracts. It seamlessly integrates into your existing cloud platforms to store all your contracts into one centralized base. 

Once Zendoc is integrated, our AI automatically scans your documents to tag all your important data. These tags will allow your legal teams to recall that data in an instant. 

Zendoc can also turn your tags into actionable data by setting alerts for your team whenever a contract needs attention. We designed our software to increase efficiency and productivity while decreasing overhead in operational areas.  

Let Zendoc be your answer. It takes less than a minute to sign up. Try it today! 

About Zendoc

Zendoc is a full-service AI-powered contract automation system that not only organizes all of your agreements into a single database but keeps you up-to-date on what you need to do to extract as much value from your contracts as possible. You don’t have to worry about forgetting your obligations because you don’t have to remember them in the first place. 

We offer a 14-day free trial demo so you can experience relief from the pain of managing your contracts. Try us today!