Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance collaborating with Corporate Legal Operations Consortium to drive better legal service delivery

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) wants to help members see the future of legal services. Using a series of polls, surveys, and in-person interviews, CLOC will launch a multiphase initiative titled "It’s [About] Time: Defining the Future of Legal Services Delivery" during its 2019 Institute, May 14 – May 16 at Bellagio Las Vegas. The initiative will assess “the evolution of collaboration and engagement for the benefit of legal services consumers” and is being developed and implemented in collaboration with CLOC member organizations Clifford Chance LLP, CMS, Greenberg Traurig LLP, and Pangea3.

“We've developed a framework through which legal providers and consumers can collaborate to better understand and articulate the changing expectations of clients while aiming to drive value, enhance the client experience and create effective solutions for legal needs,” said CLOC President Mary Shen O’Carroll.

“There are many ongoing legal surveys available, but this survey will be different. We are not here to prove our own assumptions but aim to gather actionable data that will drive better business outcomes,” said Tom Romer, Greenberg Traurig Shareholder heading the firm’s Innovative Client Strategies Team.

“We want to understand how and why a gap can form between legal provider/client expectations around service delivery, despite this being an apparent focus of attention for all parties, and to help develop possible solutions to bridge that gap,” said Oliver Campbell, Global Head of Client Service Solutions at Clifford Chance LLP.

CLOC said that the initiative will help advance the conversation around innovation/change and its impact on the client legal services experience.

“We recognize that Legal Operations Officers are increasingly looking to law firms to drive collaboration and help co-create the future of legal service delivery,” said John Craske, head of Legal Service Design & Delivery at CMS.

“At the same time, legal services providers need to provide more transparency about how work is performed,” said Paul J. Stroka, Director of Legal Solutions at Pangea3, Thomson Reuters.

Part of the value legal services providers bring to clients is applying solutions sourced by clients’ collective experience, according to CLOC.

“We are using the Institute as a platform to launch the survey concept and capitalize on the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the key influencers attending,” O’Carroll said.

“The exercise is not just about providers asking clients – ‘What do you want from me?’ This is about providers and clients collaborating to create better engagement that serves all of us. We want to deliver actionable recommendations that inform our behaviors and create more value from our partnerships,” said Jason Barnwell, a member of the CLOC Board of Directors.

CLOC expects more than 2,100 attendees at its 2019 Vegas Institute. The study will take on several forms. CLOC said it expects that the final study report will become available in late 2019. For more information about the study or other CLOC initiatives, visit www.cloc.org.