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CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2018
L a w D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t
GOOGLE'S legal department may not be the benchmark everyone is
ready to hold themselves to, but it's one many are watching closely as its
legal operations team makes headlines about how it manages how legal
work is approached internally at the tech giant.
So it's perhaps a little comforting to know that even its head of legal
operations, technology and strategy and part of the Corporate Legal
Operations Consortium executive leadership team finds that the
number of tools available to aid in the development of a more efficient
and effective legal department can be overwhelming.
"Just walking the floor at LegalTech, I can't keep track of the legal
providers and I try very hard to keep up with what's out there —
that's an example of how quickly the times are changing," said Mary
Shen O'Carroll, head of legal operations, technology and strategy
with Google Inc., speaking as part of a panel during LegalWeek
in New York in January called "Evolution of the Legal Services
Delivery Model."
Not yet at the
tipping point
For all the talk of innovation and
collaboration, in-house insiders say the
legal profession isn't where it needs to be
even though CEOs and GCs are looking
for viable alternatives now.
BY JENNIFER BROWN