Buying Legal Tech: The Stakeholders to Know

“Know your audience.” It’s the key to success in a variety of professional fields. But it’s also important advice for in-house legal teams that want to make a compelling case for buying the legal technology they need.

With legal spend coming under increased scrutiny in recent years, there are more stakeholders involved in the legal tech buying process than ever before. That means a larger audience to appeal to when building a business case for a new software solution—as well as a wider array of interests you’ll need to tailor your business case around.

Here we’ll provide an overview of the key stakeholders that are likely to be involved in your buying process—as well the aspects of your proposed legal tech solution that will resonate with them most when building out your business case.

Legal Operations

Role in the Buying Process

Oftentimes, it’s the legal operations professional who kicks off the legal technology buying process. This usually occurs after a period of time spent researching the in-house legal team’s biggest pain points and/or objectives, and then cultivating a list of the legal tech solutions that would make the biggest impact.

Legal operations typically takes charge of building the business case for the technology. They garner internal support for the solution with the various internal legal technology stakeholders in order to secure the budget and necessary approvals required to make the purchase.

In organizations without a legal operations function, this work will usually be done by another member of the in-house legal team (e.g. the Assistant General Counsel, paralegal, etc.).

What They Value

• Operational Efficiency
• Time Savings
• Cost Control

Procurement

Role in the Buying Process

Procurement’s role in the buying process is to secure the best legal tech tool at the most cost-effective price. Their responsibilities during the buying process are often dependent on whether your organization requires a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be created before making a purchase.

In the event an RFP is required, Procurement will usually serve as project managers of the buying process from start to finish, communicating with vendors, scheduling demos, relaying questions, etc. If there is a legal operations role in the organization, they will work in tandem with Procurement throughout this process.

If no RFP is required, Procurement typically comes in towards the end of the buying journey to negotiate pricing.

What They Value:

• Return on Investment
• Cost Savings

General Counsel

Role in the Buying Process

When it comes to buying legal tech, the General Counsel is the most important decision-maker, as no purchase can progress without their buy-in.

In some instances, the directive to find a new piece of technology for the legal department will come from the General Counsel themselves—simplifying the buying process for the member of the legal team tasked with gaining approval for a tool.

However, in most cases the General Counsel will serve as the first major stakeholder to be engaged, and will be evaluating software solutions based on their ability to make the legal department more efficient and strategic.

What They Value

• Reducing Risk
• Improving Legal Service Delivery
• Data for Strategic Decision-Making

CFO

Role in the Buying Process

After the General Counsel, the CFO is the most important stakeholder to build a compelling business case for, as they’ll decide whether you receive the budget you need to actually make the legal tech purchase.

As is to be expected, the features they’ll find most compelling are a solution’s ability to manage costs. This can be framed in the form of reduction in spend (e.g. an e-billing tools will help the organization flag billing violations and reduce spend) or increased efficiency (e.g. easier contract review via a CLM reduces the need to add more headcount).

What They Value:

• Faster Revenue Generation
• Cost Savings
• Return on Investment (ROI)

IT

Role in the Buying Process

As the technical experts, IT will be looking to see how well a tool will integrate with the organization’s current systems, and evaluating any potential security concerns. If the tool you’re considering uses AI, they’ll also take the lead on reviewing common considerations surrounding the technology, including how the AI interacts with and stores legal data.

What They Value:

• Ease of Integration
• Security
• Data Compliance

Attorneys and Paralegals

Role in the Buying Process

Oftentimes, attorneys and paralegals are the members of the in-house team that will be interacting with the legal technology you’re looking to buy on a daily basis. Considering this, their support for a tool can be instrumental in successfully advocating for it with the other legal tech stakeholders.

They should be engaged with early and often to showcase how the tegal technology solution being considered will improve their workflows and make their lives easier. Their positive or negative perception can ultimately impact the decision to buy.

What They Value:

• Time Savings
• Improved User Experience

Other Stakeholders

Role in the Buying Process

Legal doesn’t operate in a silo. Much of their work impacts—and is impacted by—other areas of the business. This is true when it comes to the tools they use as well.

Whether it’s members of the Sales team who might benefit from faster contract review via a CLM, or your partner in FP&A who will get quicker access to reports on legal spend, seek out other stakeholders in your organization who will benefit from the tool you want and gain their buy-in too. As with the members of your in-house team that will be using the tool, the support of these other legal tech stakeholders can impact the buying decision.

What They Value:

• Time Savings
• Streamlined Workflows

Building Your Business Case for Legal Technology

Understanding the key stakeholders involved in the buying process—and what they value—is an important first step for building an effective business case for the legal technology your in-house team needs.

If you’re looking to add an intuitive, AI-powered e-billing and matter management system to your legal tech stack, let us know. Here at Brightflag, we’ve helped hundreds of customers navigate the buying process. And our experienced team can serve as a trusted guide throughout the journey to help your legal department get the legal tech solutions they need to do their best work.