Wolters Kluwer report reveals corporate legal’s outsourcing priorities

Global News

03
May
2022

Editor

A new survey, commissioned and published by Wolters Kluwer CT Corporation and Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions and conducted by ALM Media, shows that approximately half of the corporate respondents polled anticipate an increased need for legal technology and corporate compliance providers over the next three to five years.

The findings, contained in the “Legal Outsourcing 2022” eBook, are based on responses from more than 100 executives responsible for corporate legal outsourcing decisions at U.S. companies with more than $500 million in revenue. 

Per the survey, outsourcing continues to expand across the board, with respondents identifying technology roadmap/strategy (48%), legal research (43%), and managing corporate compliance (40%) as among the most outsourced activities of 2020-21. As for which types of outsourced providers are being entrusted to manage key priorities such as technology strategy or corporate compliance, legal technology providers appear highest in demand, engaged by more than half (59%) of respondents.

“Today’s corporate legal and compliance teams face a growing number of demands on their time, energy and staffing resources,” says John Weber, President and CEO of Wolters Kluwer CT Corporation. “Engaging legal technology providers has become the most reliable way for corporations to leverage the blend of technology and expertise needed to manage increased workloads while also enhancing efficiencies,” adds Raja Sengupta, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions.

Additional highlights from the “Legal Outsourcing 2022” eBook include:

• 93% of corporate compliance departments have outsourced work in the past three years.
• Respondents identified experience (45%) as the most critical factor when selecting an outsourced provider, followed by budget/cost (31%) and accessibility (29%).
• Corporations are using a range of different metrics to evaluate the performance of outsourced providers. Survey respondents pointed towards performance indicators such as communication/responsiveness (65%), cost vs. budget (63%), cost vs. benefit (59%) and outcomes (59%). 

Both CT Corporation and ELM Solutions are part of Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division. For nearly 130 years, Wolters Kluwer CT Corporation has been the leading provider of registered agent services, incorporation services, and legal entity compliance. With a global reach into over 150 countries, more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, 95 percent of AmLaw 100 law firms, and 350,000 small businesses trust CT Corporation to handle their compliance needs. 

ELM Solutions is a global provider of enterprise legal spend and matter management, contract lifecycle management and legal analytics solutions. The company provides a comprehensive suite of tools that address the growing needs of corporate legal operations departments to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs.