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.
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.