Amiel Gross: How to Increase Legal Department Collaboration

Philadelphia PA

14 June, 2022

3:08 AM

Description

Legal counsel is a term used to describe lawyers who work in an organisation, either as individuals or as part of a team, to provide that organization with legal guidance. Any effective legal team is not only responsible for managing and reacting to legal risks that an organization faces; they also work with the management team to shape business strategies and provide legal advice based on a thorough understanding of the business's interests. Today's legal landscape is complex, making it vital that businesses have access to legal support that is familiar with their goals, and the legal and commercial environment in which they operate. On the other side, collaboration in the legal department can be challenging. There are many different stakeholders with different expectations and needs. Everyone involved has their own area of expertise and must be willing to give up some control in order to work effectively together. But collaboration isn’t always easy for everyone involved. Here are some tips offered by Amiel Gross, Head of Legal at Center for Breakthrough Medicines, that can help your company’s legal department collaborate more effectively. Amiel Gross is a successful problem-solver with solid business acumen to resolve complex issues in creative and efficient ways. Since joining CBM, Amiel Gross has been fortunate enough to work across many of the company's key project and policy areas. During his career there, Gross has overseen several high-profile projects and policy interests. Share legal information and knowledge Making legal information accessible to those who can benefit most from it is the first step in improving collaboration. Sharing information between departments, such as real estate contracts with Accounting or claims information with Customer Service, can reduce internal barriers. You can also reduce time spent on a variety of administrative tasks using a centralised legal information management system, from retrieving information for colleagues to reviewing contracts and chasing due dates. According to Amiel Gross, the best way to do this is by storing your documents in a secure, centralised, cloud-based management system, where you can manage access and permission settings according to your organisation. Define standard workflows When you’re a lawyer in a firm that partners with other lawyers, you may be working on different matters. As a result, you may not be aware of information and knowledge related to other parts of the firm. This can cause confusion and delays. To avoid this, make sure everyone in your firm is up to date on what’s happening in the other parts of the firm. This will build trust among the different stakeholders and increase the likelihood that they’ll share information and knowledge freely. Standard workflows can also help with transparency, explains General Counsel Amiel Gross. They make information sharing more clear and transparent. Define standard workflows for key processes, such as drafting letters and agreements, interviewing clients, reviewing legal documents, and dealing with outside counsel. Make sure everyone in your firm knows about these workflows. This will help everyone understand the process better and increase transparency. Establish a Process for Collaboration You can’t just expect your departments to collaborate. You need to establish a formal process for collaboration. One way to do this is to create a legal department steering committee. This steering committee can include representatives from different departments, as well as a lawyer from the company’s legal department. The committee can meet regularly to discuss challenges that come up in collaboration. As new problems are identified, the committee can discuss solutions. This process can help your legal department collaborate more effectively and efficiently.  Don’t Overlook the Importance of Training and Orientation Training is important in order to build trust, especially when a large number of stakeholders need to learn new processes. Training should be regular, ongoing, and conducted by people with experience in the area of collaboration, adds Amiel Gross. You can also use training as a way to address potential challenges in collaboration before they become problems. Orientation is also important. It can help new employees learn the culture and expectations of their new workplace. This includes understanding their role in collaboration and the specific roles of their colleagues in collaboration.