Benchmarking Report: In-House Legal Understands Value of LPM but Gaps Exist in Day to Day Use

Global News

02
Nov
2016

Editor

Exterro releases first annual In-House Legal Benchmarking Report

Exterro^® Inc., the preferred provider of software specifically designed for in-house legal and IT teams at Global 2000 and AmLaw 200 organizations, today announced the 2016 In-House Legal Benchmarking Report: Reducing Costs, Increasing Productivity in Today's Complex Litigation Environment.

In the report, 70% of respondents strongly believe that having a consistent, formal project management process will make them efficient, but only 30% define themselves as "fairly mature" on the legal project management maturity model.

Best practices typically result from an optimal combination of people, processes, and technology. But the results further indicate there is room for improvement in all areas:

Most survey respondents reported a lack of formal project management solutions:

• 48% manage projects with spreadsheets
• 56% manage with email
• Very few organizations reported having dedicated project managers to oversee their legal process:
• Only 14% use a dedicated project manager for legal projects
• 46% say attorneys are still the primary project managers for matters

"At Exterro, we've long championed the critical role process plays in driving efficiency and better outcomes for in-house legal departments. While the survey confirms that the majority of organizations share this view, it also underscores there is much room for improvement," said Bill Piwonka, CMO of Exterro.

"The Exterro 2016 In-House Legal Benchmarking Report provides valuable insights into contemporary e-discovery trends and challenges as businesses increasingly look to internal talent to reduce e-discovery costs," said William F. Hamilton, Executive Director with UF Law E-Discovery Project. "Corporations, however, must be careful not to allow hidden costs and risks to scuttle hoped-for gains. E-Discovery requires proper processes and project management, skilled human capital, and legally defensible software. Bringing e-discovery tasks in-house not only requires e-discovery project management, but also the thoughtful project management of bringing e-discovery in-house."

In the 2016 In-House Legal Benchmarking Report, survey respondents answered questions about their current allocation of legal resources, legal project management, and investment in technology. The report is based on an Exterro survey completed by 76 participants in September and October of 2016.