Digital transformation is evolving every day, especially among business legal teams and corporate counsels. In order to keep up with these changes, it is important to adapt, personally, and educate colleagues on the changes occurring in our technology-filled world. In a previous Q&A, Deirdre Leone, VP Sales North America at ContractPodAi, shared her perspective on diversity in the digital transformation realm. Here, Manpreet Dhillon, Head of Legal Transformation at ContractPodAi, discusses the importance of building a digital transformation team, and why it is beneficial – and even imperative – to have a team that has unique skill sets and a passion for all things digital.
Digital transformation is changing legal departments from their current state to adapt to the digital world.
1. WHAT IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE LEGAL CONTEXT?
Digital transformation is essentially helping your legal department, in its current state, to adapt to the digital world. This may be by using artificial intelligence, abstraction, and automated contracts. The legal world needs to become digital due to the number of contracts, documents, and general legal documents that are being worked on manually. This will allow legal teams to work much more efficiently, saving time for strategic deals and purposes.
2. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO CORPORATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS?
Digital transformation is important to corporate legal departments. Because of the adoption of new technologies, long gone are the days of paperwork and arduous, face-to-face negotiations. The technology is here, allowing lawyers to save time and work on other tasks, and encouraging harmony and synergy.
3. HOW DOES YOUR TEAM OF CONSULTANTS HELP CORPORATE LEGAL GROUPS?
Corporate legal groups will have first-hand assistance from my team. They are qualified lawyers, who have worked within in-house departments, and understand the need for digital transformation. Also, I implemented ContractPodAi four years ago at Bosch and Siemens, so I can draw from my experience and share best practices with them.
4. WHAT EXACTLY DOES YOUR TEAM OF LEGAL ENGINEERS DO?
My team of legal engineers assists with the machine learning of artificial intelligence. They will understand the use case of the customer and assist the implementation managers when they are configuring the system. My team will also draw out process maps and lucid charts to understand the legal departments’ current process, which will then be transformed into the digital world. They will work with clients to understand the clients’ goals and ensure the clients’ current processes are not disturbed a great deal. Lastly, my team assists with abstraction work. They are either lawyers or have undertaken law degrees, and thoroughly understand the operation of contracts. Legal engineers assist with the machine learning of artificial intelligence.
5. HOW DOES A LEGAL ENGINEER AID IN THIS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION EVOLUTION?
Legal engineers are looking at the future and not the past. They are looking at how the legal department will be transformed and set up in the future, to be prepared and ready for new changes.
6. IS IT DIFFICULT TO KEEP UP WITH THE CHANGES IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION?
No, not really. It is so fast-moving, but it is also exciting to learn about! We also learn new things from each and every client, which is great. It’s essentially an ongoing learning experience.
7. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TEAM?
You truly need professionals who are passionate about the legal world and technology. When they are keen on both, there is a magic that will transform your legal function altogether. Of course, it can be so overwhelming going through this process, so you need a team that you can depend on – and a team that knows what they are talking about. Check out our e-book, “Three Stages of Legal Digital Transformation,” to get you started on your journey.
Author:
Manpreet Dhillon
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