Almost every company, regardless of size, uses some sort of business system to help operate more efficiently and effectively. A business system is really nothing more than a set of processes; a process being a systematic approach with a series of steps used to reach a desired outcome.
One common example: a business will use a customer relationship management (CRM) system (it could be as formal Salesforce or as simple as a homemade spreadsheet) to help manage their sales and marketing efforts when interacting with existing and potential customers. The idea is to have a set of processes for sales and marketing with the desired outcome of attracting and closing clients/customers. All of this is done to help a business achieve its strategic initiatives. Processes allow companies to streamline their work, making them more efficient and save money.
Systems for Your Legal Needs
The same concept applies to the legal field – companies should have a legal system with a set of processes designed to produce the desired outcome of protecting the company and minimizing risk, built around the business strategy. The added benefit of a legal system is efficiency of the company; saving time and money.
Businesses are full of processes that have legal implications; contracts, employees, independent contractors, regulations, interns, management decisions, etc. Almost every company that does not have a full-time lawyer working in-house handles legal work on a piecemeal basis; sporadically, without considering how legal could help achieve company goals as a part of the bigger picture. There’s a better way: companies should customize legal systems that are turn-key and predictive to meet their strategic initiatives or company goals.
While that may seem like common sense, it’s not; for example, it is extremely common for contracts to lack attachments and exhibits and for them to go unsigned, because a business lacks a standard contract process. This exposes businesses to serious risk. Implementing a contracts process can significantly minimize that risk. Additionally, using a contracts process can shorten sales cycles or turnaround time and lead to a higher conversion rate on the sale of services or products.
Processes can be created for numerous areas of a business and built into a legal system that is customized to protect the business so it can pursue goals/strategies/business plan; in essence it’s creating a turn-key legal system or playbook that can keep everyone on the same page.