Month: October 2018

Ten Things: Legal Procurement – The Next Big Thing for In-House Lawyers

I know that artificial intelligence is the hot topic of the moment for in-house legal departments.  And it should be.  It promises tremendous cost savings and productivity enhancements for in-house lawyers.  While everyone is very excited about the new kid in town, there is something brewing out there that is equally exciting, but which rests on some pretty mundane financial principles: procurement.  Or, more specifically, legal procurement.  Now, before you go running into the hallway screaming that it will be a very, very cold day in hell before you let anyone from procurement get involved with your law firms, hear me out.  There’s something here that’s worth exploring.  This edition of “Ten Things” will provide a primer on the legal procurement process:

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Ten Things: “Cool Tech” 2018 Edition

I am a little bit late with my “Cool Tech” post for 2018.  Not surprisingly, I have found it much harder to write my blog on a regular basis once I became general counsel again.  I’m not complaining though – I think being an in-house lawyer is the best legal job on the planet (other than Federal appeals court judge).  If you’re attending the Annual ACC meeting in Austin, Texas in October be sure to check out my panel on contract risks on Monday, October 22 at 2:30 pm.  Stop by for the session and afterward come up and say “hello!”  Also, I just heard from the American Bar Association and they want to publish the second volume of my “Ten Things” book.  That will come out sometime in 2019.  And, when I publish this blog, I should have over 3,000 followers (which just blows my mind).  Okay, enough digression, let’s get on with this edition of “Ten Things.”  Long-time readers know that every summer I write about some of the “cool tech” I have come across and that I think in-house lawyers might find interesting too.  You can catch up on the prior years here: 20152016, and 2017.  Everything I mentioned in these past posts is still worth reading.  But, there is always more good stuff out there to talk about!  And, as always, I receive nothing to mention the products in my blog.  I just think in-house lawyers will find this tech interesting.  Finally, I tend to skip big, expensive tech purchases as “Cool Tech” and look to discuss technology that is immediate, affordable, and useful.  Here we go:

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