Defining a Legal Operations Analyst
What is a legal operations analyst and what do they do (in this post and by way of example, we refer to one of our LegalOpsTeam team members, a lawyer, who has recently taken on the role)?
Decoding the role of a legal operations analyst is not as easy as it may sound. For starters, does a legal operations analyst work directly with a legal department or firm management in an in-house role, at a law firm, or work in a law firm client service position? The answer is all the above.
The legal operations analyst is a data-driven team player who is deeply analytical, and able to readily assess and understand processes and procedures, recognize inefficiencies, and sorts through data to find solutions or point out patterns. They are detail-oriented and computer savvy, and in addition to their analytical skills, serve as a critical member of a legal operations team.
As part of a legal operations team, the legal operations analyst focuses on helping a legal department or firm operate more efficiently . This includes measuring productivity, analyzing and improving processes, identifying inefficient activities, and extracting actionable insights from data. The analyst often collaborates with other team members and with different functional areas across the organization. Legal operations analysts are responsible for analyzing:
Law firm legal operations analysts fulfill many of the same roles and responsibilities but work more specifically with lawyers and other members of a legal team or department and prioritize activities to accomplish their firm’s and clients’ goals. A law firm legal operations analyst may support multiple practice groups or offices and work alongside financial analysts, project management staff, and legal administrative assistants. Legal operations analysts are critical to a law firm’s ability to leverage technology, mitigate risk, increase profitability, deliver the best service, and provide better value for client money.
Core Competencies for Legal Operations Analysts
To ascend to the level of legal operations analyst, a mastery of the analytical skill set is a must. The balance between technical and organizational knowledge, understanding of firm priorities, and interpersonal savvy takes a unique combination of both a specific type of experience base and personal attributes. A staff member looking to evolve into a legal operations analyst must have an essential comfort level with technology and a willingness to take deep dives into data, as well as focus on process development and other similar compliance development areas. Some of the key responsibilities within the legal operations analyst function, such as vendor analysis or project management, allow for significant exposure to senior leadership in the firm and extensive cross-departmental interaction. Client-facing aspects of the position include participation on project teams, inclusion on internal strategic initiatives and may include training efforts as well. Essential skills and professional qualifications include: While many of these skills can be developed in-house, academic backgrounds that are often sought out include: As with many aspects of the legal industry, the skills of a legal operations analyst are strongly valued for their contribution to the overall profitability of the firm. Expertise in compliance, process improvement and information security are also of strong interest, as these additional service offerings can often be monetized as standalone services.
Future Prospects and Career Advancement
A career as a legal operations analyst often begins with some level of general education and experience in administrative support practices within a law firm or corporate legal department. Lawyers want to be able to trust that administrative professionals have the skills and background to do their job efficiently and professionally, which is why those pursuing a career in law office management often need 4-year degrees in business administration, business management, information technology, or project management. Working as a legal secretary or analogous position allows professionals to not only see for themselves how the practice of law is structured and implemented but also to meet stakeholders across the practice and its many operational demands. Even those who have graduated from law school can work as legal operations analysts. A number of law-related positions are available to law school graduates in legal operations departments, including the following: Those pursuing a career as a legal operations analyst should look for opportunities to take on projects and lead teams in past places of employment. Because the legal industry expects candidates for legal operations jobs to have a minimum of 5-plus years of experience, it can be helpful for professionals to earn credentials from industry organizations, such as the International Legal Technology Association and the Association of Legal Administrators. Professions targeting legal operations analysts hope to help the profession expand further. By having strong processes in prevention and problem solving, legal departments can achieve data-based insight into their strengths, weaknesses, and the competition. Legal operations analysts are the first generation professional managers of the operational function of legal departments and they are needed to co-lead change and develop the value of the new discipline.
The Influence of Technology on Legal Operations
As the legal industry integrates more technology into its day-to-day business practices, the role of a legal operations analyst has evolved to meet this new demand. The success of a law firm or corporate legal department is now reliant on driving value through efficiency and embracing new technology tools that will help the legal function reach its goals. As a result, organizations have expanded their workplace to incorporate modern technological tools and systems with all departments now collaborating on projects. While in the past, only IT staff had an in-depth understanding of key technology solutions, today, legal operations professionals are expected to do the same – creating a need for extra legal operations staff to deliver this knowledge.
When recruiting candidates for a legal operations position, employers should be mindful of the skills and characteristics required to fill the shoes of a legal operations analyst . Legal Operations is a newly formed niche and specific skills or tasks within legal operations are rarely taught directly from one person to another – instead, these skills are cultivated from experience and practice. However, as the legal business is rapidly growing and changing, legal operations analysts have begun to invest in training opportunities for themselves. Personal development and other resources such as online webinars and seminars, on-demand training, and networking events are ways in which legal operations employees are learning more about business intelligence and analytics, software applications, and problem solving. In many cases, global corporations have taken it upon themselves to host their own internal training sessions where legal operations analysts team up with other departments within the organization to familiarize themselves with new tools and technologies.
Obstacles Confronting Legal Operations Analysts
The amount of data new technology produces in the legal world can be a double-edged sword. While "Big Data" can provide crucial insights to help lawyers strategize cases and secure favorable settlements, it can also become unwieldy to manage. Legal operations analysts are often tasked with bringing order and clarity to this data, but it often proves more difficult than they might expect.
One challenge analysts face is the sheer volume of data to process and analyze. Today’s technology allows firms to collect and store everything from direct communications such as emails and voicemail to documents detailing court proceedings. Despite the volume of data, clients still expect a quick response to questions and concerns that may not have been addressed in their contract. Fortunately, many platforms allow firms to create custom workflows that can speed up certain tasks. For example, a workflow can be built to automatically send clients invoices, reminders, and relevant contract information. Using interactive dashboards that visualize performance metrics can cut down on report generation time.
A related issue is alert fatigue. Alerts are notifications that appear moment-to-moment based on content. Alerts are designed to inform the firm and its clients of new data that meets a specific criteria, such as a deadline reminder or a critical email. However, these alerts don’t always add value. When alerts appear too frequently, people start to ignore them, which can lead to missed communications and other issues. One way to combat alert fatigue is to involve all relevant stakeholders in the process of determining which alerts should be generated. Being able to audit alerts quickly also ensures they generate actual value for their recipients, maximizing work efficiency.
Another challenge legal operations analysts face is the types of technology available to them. Despite the proliferation of cloud-based software platforms, many firms remain wary of cloud computing, sometimes based on misconceptions, such as security over costs. In addition, firms may not have the tools to manage operations through a single platform. Without the ability to analyze operations at a glance, analysts may struggle to identify the areas where value can be maximized. Single-platform software addresses this challenge by providing a one-stop solution that manages multiple operations for a firm, such as data collection, storage, and analytics.
Aside from these specific challenges, legal operations analysts must face other challenges that organizations face as well, such as disparate data systems, inconsistent collaboration between lawyers and clients, and the presence of information silos. Many of these challenges can be overcome by deploying a robust legal operations platform that provides a single point-of-view of key data points and automates routine tasks so that employees can focus on higher-value work.
Becoming a Legal Operations Analyst
A common method for entering the field of legal operations is as a legal assistant, paralegal, or researcher, sometimes working alongside or with an attorney, and gradually transitioning into a position in which formal credentials are not required. Prospective legal operations professionals should strive to develop their research, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Relevant coursework at the undergraduate or graduate level (e.g., statistics, data collections, statistical reporting) is also worthwhile.
Another potential path into legal operations is as a systems/project manager. Such managers often have formal technical credentials in information technology, or project management certifications . For example, the AAPM Project Management Certification (PM-Cert) builds on the PMBOK Guide and provides continuing education and certification. Three key concepts include Principles, Infrastructure, and Resources (PIR), which contribute to value and business development, successful project execution, and delivery of products and services.
As legal operations is an evolving and growing field, it is wise to search for job openings that regard skills and experience more highly than formal credentials. Networking with active legal operations professionals, participating in consumer groups, and attending workshops and conferences that are open to the public may also lead to potential employment opportunities.
