Senior leadership teams are keenly aware of the strategic advantage digital technologies can deliver. In their drive for innovation, many businesses are missing an opportunity. By making better use of legal resources, it's possible to drastically improve the outcomes of transformation programmes.
Here are some tips for getting the best value out of your external advisors.
- Do make sure you have the right expertise. Use the best lawyers for the job in hand—it's not always the same lawyers on your panel, or who do your financing/corporate work. Specialist technology lawyers can develop the right contracting model to solve for finance and tax considerations; apply a regulatory lens to deliver compliant solutions and reduce risk; provide the tools necessary to manage multi-vendor environments; and shape the sourcing approach to create competitive tension.
- Don't just see us as 'the lawyers'. Use us as a resource to achieve success in your transaction. We have a cross-market perspective and can add lots of extra value beyond our legal expertise. We can put commercial constructs together that ultimately make the deal, not just build the legal framework to support it. We also have wealth of experience in supporting clients overcome similar challenges to those you're facing, and we're expert negotiators—leverage our wider skill set.
- Do engage us from the outset. If your digital transformation programmes are strategic then allow us to take a strategic approach. Talk to us even before you've fully identified your requirements and give us a view of the big picture. Understanding the wider context unlocks better and more insightful guidance that can be translated into your sourcing strategy and documentation.
- Do integrate us into your deal team. This will give you the biggest benefits. Collaboration between legal, IT, and business teams helps foster a culture of open communication and innovation that drives alignment to your overall objectives. We'll be better able to spot potential challenges if we're part of the conversation.
- Do help us to help you on cost and timescale. We advise clients of all kinds and have a variety of approaches we could use in supporting each deal. We can help you clarify your objectives and establish a scope of legal support that will help you deliver them. Use our experience to help you develop your approach and construct your project budget and timetable. Good planning early on helps you build the cost of delivering the transaction into the overall programme budget.
- Do play to our strengths. We're experts in delivering deals—give us the time and resources to do what we do, whether that's time to properly digest documentation at the right moment, or access to key subject matter experts. This will save you both time and money in the long run.
- Don't assume the 'legal terms' will fix problems elsewhere. A robust contract comprises more than just the core legal terms, and more often than not issues arise where there is a disconnect within the service description, or technical and operational content of the documentation. A 'red flag review' limited to legal terms will not pick up these problems, and an intelligent management of risk requires an appreciation of the whole contract—not just the front end.
Delaying legal involvement tends to result in a worse deal overall, and risks missing the opportunity to benefit from our deep market knowledge, insights, and expertise to deliver a better deal.
So as you consider your next technology transaction, ask yourself: Are you truly leveraging the full potential of your legal team?
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.