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Moving from the Department of “No” to a True Partner–Building Legal’s Value to the C-Suite

To Provide More Value To The Business, Legal Must Transform

By Nicholas Hinton, Chief Financial Officer

For years, CFOs and general counsels (GCs) often bonded over being the adults in the C-suite room. Today, GCs may become an even greater asset to CFOs as legal teams undertake a digital transformation. That’s because this legal transformation, if done right, can result in reduced expenses, increased revenue and these departments powering the business forward.

First, let’s take a step back and see why legal transformation is happening now. It typically takes a catalytic crisis for businesses to embrace full-blown transformation. For law departments, it’s the ultimatum to do more with less — amidst mounting internal complexity.

And to experience this transformation’s full potential, legal must rethink its role altogether. As the CFO of a technology and legal services company focused on digital transformation, I’ve found that legal department staff generally see themselves as outside defenders rather than inside orchestrators. Legal’s mindset of focusing solely on risk – and not revenue – keeps the department isolated from the business.

With the right transformation strategy, law departments can rise like a phoenix from the ashes of budget cuts to meet the elevated expectations of the C-suite, CFOs and boards, as they create unprecedented value and ROI for their businesses.

This story was published in Forbes. To read more, visit To Provide More Value To The Business, Legal Must Transform.

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