Team size: UK-based – 7, Saudi Arabia – 1, Canada – 3, India – 1

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

My team and I played a central role in many matters over the past year, including being involved (for a number of years) on the procurement by the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) of the new Functional Assessment Service (FAS), a multi year, multi lot programme. The team worked on the ITT as a prospective prime contractor (which solution involved 3 key subcontractors and circa 100 other supporting factors that contributed directly to the outstanding outcome of being awarded Prime Contractor for Lot 1 (Northern England & Scotland) and Delivery Partner/Subcontractor for Capita in Lot 2 (Midlands & Wales).The combined estimated value of the contracts, including subcontracting, is GBP£800m over 5 years, with the option to extend for a further two years;
Investigating a number of ‘whistleblower‘ matters, resulting (amongst other things) in improvements to certain practices and procedure;
A dispute with a client on a contract interpretation issue (worth several million pounds per annum), which (using the leverage of a formal dispute mechanism in the contract) resulted in a negotiated settlement .

What do you see as an opportunity or risk over the next six months?

Opportunity: We are in the process of reviewing the way that we deliver legal services to the business, starting with a granular analysis of the specific tasks the team perform in the performance of their job (and which ones we are performing that other teams should be doing and which tasks we are not doing that we should be doing). This analysis will then give us the opportunity to then review those specific tasks and allow us to see how we can better and more efficiently perform those tasks whether by team restructuring of the team e.g. taking the admin tasks individuals perform and giving them to one admin person, allowing the senior team members to focus on more value add activity), use of counsel in alternative geographies or use of process automation/AI.

Risk: There is a risk legal teams are pressured (1) to purchase/use technology without first fully assessing what the questions are that the technology would be the answer to (and then , having purchased a technology without fully considering its use case, then having to ‘shoe horn’ it into business processes) (2) not fully consider the risks of the use of technology/AI (e.g. using AI to develop a legal argument and presenting it to the business without first considering it properly) As an example, I had a case , in which I have formed my own legal opinion and then asked two AI engines of the chances of success in a claim in the scenario (using the exact same prompt). One gave me an 80% chance of success. The other gave me an 80% chance of failure! There need to be careful consideration as to how new technology is used (with human oversight at the appropriate stages).

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

There is an assumption sometimes that ‘innovation’ means the implementation of new technology. I think innovation means making changes (hopefully for the improvement of the way things are done and/or in a more efficient way) by way of changes to existing processes or procedures (of which technology can play a part).

Whilst not a new concept, we have worked on a delegation of authority to the procurement team , so that they can work autonomously without having to revert back to the legal team (freeing up the legal team to focus on the more complex contracts/legal matters). We have developed ‘guard rails’ into the process so that the delegation applies in respect of renewals on the same terms, certain variations to existing contracts and to new contracts that are based on approved standard templates (the terms and conditions for which will be locked ) and for which the procurement team will have the ability to add the scope and commercial/pricing provisions (and indeed will have responsibility for ensuring those sections are correct) and with an escalation process , where counterparties wish to negotiate legal terms. We hope in due course to mature this process (with standardised alternative terms for particular scenarios).

As the legal landscape evolves, what steps are you taking to foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the legal team, ensuring that they are all well-equipped to address future legal complexities?

I have developed, with the team, a legal team strategy consisting of 3 pillars and which we are implementing this year:
Standardisation – of contracts and processes. If one way can be developed across the divisions in the business, and across the different geographies, that will allow for ease of working by different team members across the different divisions and geographies (allowing them to enhance their span of responsibility and career progression), and will allow the end users to have a more standard experience (e.g. if sales team receive a standard ‘contract review’ deliverable/format, they will know what to expect to get whatever the matter and whoever the person).

Harnessing technology – to optimize workflows, enhance efficiency, reduce costs

‘Supercharging performance’ (my terminology/desire for the team!) – I am planning a series of training sessions/workshops in a number of ‘soft skills’ areas once a month (to align with the monthly face-to-face team meetings I hold. Topics will include a number of areas such as resilience training, how to use Planner/Copilot , collaborative working/crucial conversations/ negotiation skills etc.