Lawyer Monthly - December 2021 Edition

38 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | DEC 2021 HOW AI AND AUTOMATION IS TRANSFORMING LEGAL TEAMS FOR THE BETTER The age of automation has been upon us for a number of years now, but the legal industry in particular has been less inclined to adopt and implement this new technology. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, legal teams’ success was possible despite how little they used advanced digital tools. Nevertheless, companies are evolving quickly during this time of crisis, which has only increased the need for legal automation. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that technology is critical to companies’ productivity, business continuity and overall sustainability. The legal industry has consisted of manual and siloed processes, historically speaking. But the average Fortune 500 company can have as many as 40,000 active contracts at any given time, and the consequences of one little mistake can be rather high. That is why using legal technology and making artificial intelligence (AI) a part of your contract management process is crucial. With such automation, legal teams are able to have unlimited access to — and control over — contracts, as well as mitigating risks, cutting costs, and freeing up their time for higher- value, strategic work. They can also shift the perception of in-house legal teams from a cost centre to a total value centre. Time Management It may surprise you to learn that the majority of medium and large companies still have manual contracting processes — more than 70%, in fact, according to Gartner. Perhaps the most time-consuming responsibility for legal teams is the management and manual review of contracts and related documents. By adopting end-to-end contract lifecycle management (CLM) solutions, though, they can reduce pressure on the legal department. With a controlled negotiation cycle, a common approval workflow, and an industry-standard, integrated electronic signature system, more specifically, they are able to focus on more strategic matters. Given the importance of moving an agreement forward in a timely manner, deploying legal technology to lessen — and even eliminate —the time-consuming work How AI and Automation Is Transforming Legal Teams for the Better Matt Gould Head of Legal Transformation ContractPodAi, 5 Merchant Square, 7th Floor, London W2 1AY Tel: +44 (0) 207 096 1401 Matt.gould@contractpodai.com contractpodai.com In the constant evolution of the legal sector, especially amid times of crisis, effective legal technology has found an expanding role. Matt Gould, Head of Legal Transformation at ContractPodAi, delves into the latest trends in legal tech below. What are the benefits of transitioning away from traditional contract management processes and adopting AI and automation? Matt Gould is the Head of Legal Transformation at ContractPodAi and leads the firm’s legal teams. He brings over 20 years experience as a general counsel leading global in-house legal teams in the telecommunications and tech sectors. Previously, he was General Counsel for EMEA at Telstra and General Counsel at LycaMobile. ContractPodAi is a well-established leader in end-to-end contract lifecycle management, harnessing the unrivalled AI power of IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure to lead corporations around the world. From its London headquarters and global offices, ContractPodAi amplifies businesses’ readiness through partnerships with complementary technology providers including IBM, Microsoft, DocuSign, and Salesforce. ContractPodAi is also the recipient of several awards and has been named a Visionary in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Contract Lifecycle Management.