Huron Legal Outlines the Key Issues Facing Law Departments in 2013

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Globalization, compliance and the Cloud: these are just a few of the operational issues that law departments must tackle in 2013 according to a Huron Legal briefing entitled, “What Law Departments Can Expect in 2013.”

“The ROI can be much larger than non-cloud-based applications, with much more top line impact and reduced implementation and support cost. However, there are risks, including potential data security and privacy concerns -- contracts should be carefully examined and negotiated, if possible, to address these”

Key issues in the Huron Legal briefing include:

Globalization: As business becomes more global, law departments must respond in kind.

“Law departments must be prepared to address the laws and regulations of diverse jurisdictions and ensure compliance with them,” said Julia Chain, managing director, Huron Legal.

Integration and Enterprise-Wide Solutions: Integration of compliance with other systems is representative of an overall trend toward broader system and solution integration. The primary focus of this integration is cost savings through being more effective in managing discovery. Litigation teams have a better idea of how much discovery will cost and can reuse collected material where it makes sense, providing in-house lawyers and discovery staff with the ability to use this “snapshot” information to make better decisions.

“Fundamentally, knowledge management captures and aggregates information, allowing you to understand what has been done so that you can leverage that understanding for new work,” said Nancy Jessen, managing director, Huron Legal.

Discovery: E-discovery costs will continue to rise as the volume of data increases. Law departments will continue to work to control these costs through unbundling services, offshoring discovery work, and using evolving technology such as technology assisted review (TAR).

“It is likely that courts will take a harder look at the costs of the ways data is mined and we will see courts placing greater emphasis on proportionality – looking at the size and nature of the case and driving parties to do what works for the specific case and parties rather than exhaustively exploring all options,” said Carolyn Southerland, managing director, Huron Legal.

The Cloud: Web-based systems utilize less server space and allow integration of a variety of systems and use by different groups.

“The ROI can be much larger than non-cloud-based applications, with much more top line impact and reduced implementation and support cost. However, there are risks, including potential data security and privacy concerns -- contracts should be carefully examined and negotiated, if possible, to address these,” said Robin Snasdell, managing director, Huron Legal.

“BYOD” and Social Media: “BYOD” (bring your own device) and social media use have created challenges for law departments.

“It is no longer an issue of whether employees can use their own devices or participate in social media. Companies should now focus their social media and BYOD policies to make sure they balance protecting the company’s interests with compliance with the law and keeping their employees happy and productive,” said Rich Seleznov, managing director, Huron Legal.

The Huron Legal 2013 briefing also includes discussion and strategies around: Change Management and People Transformation, Enterprise Content Management, and Law Department Operations Management.

“With careful examination of business priorities, assessment of risks of their environment, and consideration of the tools and resources available to them, law departments have the opportunity to capture the benefits of these changes and better serve their organizations in 2013,” said Shahzad Bashir, executive vice president, Huron Legal.

To view the full briefing, visit: http://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/Insights/Perspective/Legal/What_Law_Departments_Can_Expect_in_2013.aspx.

If you are interested in speaking with Huron Legal’s experts about “What Law Departments Can Expect in 2013” or other issues affecting the legal industry, please contact:

Jennifer Frost Hennagir
312-880-3260
[e-mail]

Jenna Nichols
312-880-5693
[e-mail]

About Huron Legal

Huron Legal provides advisory and business services to assist law departments and law firms to enhance organizational effectiveness and reduce legal spend. Huron Legal advises on and implements strategy, organizational design and development, outside counsel management, operational efficiency, and discovery solutions, and provides services relating to the management of matters, contracts, documents, records, digital evidence and e-discovery. Huron Legal is not a law firm; it does not offer, and is not authorized to provide, legal advice or counseling in any jurisdiction. Learn more at www.huronconsultinggroup.com/legal or follow us on Twitter: @HuronLegal.

About Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group helps clients in diverse industries improve performance, comply with complex regulations, reduce costs, recover from distress, leverage technology, and stimulate growth. The Company teams with its clients to deliver sustainable and measurable results. Huron provides services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including healthcare organizations, Fortune 500 companies, leading academic institutions, medium-sized businesses, and the law firms that represent these various organizations. Learn more at www.huronconsultinggroup.com.