depends on building and maintaining networks that extend far beyond traditional departmental boundaries. The most resilient teams cultivate relationships that they can activate as circumstances change. Internal collaboration networks include formal partnerships with IT, procurement, human resources, and business development teams. These relationships provide legal operations with early visibility into business initiatives while offering other departments access to legal expertise during planning phases rather than approval bottlenecks. External networks encompass relationships with peer legal operations professionals, industry associations, regulatory bodies, and service providers. These connections provide intelligence about emerging trends, access to specialized expertise, and alternative resource options during peak demand periods. The most sophisticated legal departments maintain formal knowledge-sharing agreements with non-competing organizations facing similar challenges. These relationships enable collaborative approaches to common problems such as developing standardized contract languages for emerging technologies or sharing best practices for new regulatory compliance requirements.
Colin Levy leads the legal function as General Counsel and Evangelist of Malbek, a leading CLM provider. Levy also advises startups and invests in emerging technologies that propel the industry forward. He has authored "The Legal Tech Ecosystem" and "CLM for Dummies” and contributes regularly to many publications. He can be reached at colin.levy@malbek.io. BACK TO CONTENTS
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