With dedicated teams operating as extensions of, or stand-ins for, in-house legal teams, managed legal services (MLS) provide a holistic, innovative service, says Tasleema Dramat.
“Our MLS goes beyond providing legal support,” explained Dramat, who runs Lighthouse Law’s MLS solution and tailors the offering to individual clients. “Our value extends to things like process refinement, setting up risk parameters, and providing our clients with data and reporting that we can turn into insights, empowering them to make meaningful and informed decisions.”
She emphasised that MLS extends further than lawyers delivering legal or even added commercial advice.
“Acting as an extension of the legal team means we have to become business enablers,” Dramat said. “You’re not only a trusted legal advisor, you’re in the trenches with your client’s business, enabling them to complete the deal, launch the product, address whatever needs they have.”
Deploying MLS’s many value-adds may include having part of the MLS team onsite, holding regular governance meetings, and undertaking constant interactions at various levels of the business. From instruction intake to contract approval processes to risk parameters, the MLS team “rolls up its sleeves” and gets involved with the process and organisation.
“Our governance interface discusses insights and trends and creates touchpoints with client stakeholders, to really understand what they’re trying to achieve,” Dramat clarified. “We’ll be part of the deal team, giving advice on regulations, different contracts and the supplier landscape – in general, quite entrenched in the day-to-day.”
An innovative and tech-savvy firm that’s even created its own legal tech solutions, the Lighthouse team began offering MLS over a decade ago in order to uncover different, creative ways to add value to a client organisation, explained Dramat. “It opens up and provides a platform for a diverse set of value-adds, rather than ring-fencing ourselves into purely legal work.”
As a fixed-fee model that easily scales up or down based on client needs, MLS provides predictability and cost control for clients. A fixed fee solution means that Lighthouse carries the efficiency risk.
“We’re also able to cross pollinate the experience and success of our clients, so you get to leverage tried and tested processes and success stories,” Dramat said. “When we’re suggesting new approaches or innovation, that comes from a place of experience.”
When an international electronics and media company, with limited in-house capacity and swamped by high volumes of work, implemented MLS, Lighthouse drastically improved turnaround times from two weeks to three days. They also enabled the in-house team to focus on the most strategic work, while improving their relationship with business stakeholders. For another South African organisation, MLS established a triage solution, automating some high volume standardised work, taking the load elsewhere, freeing the inner circle for strategy, and empowering the business.
“When we deploy our dedicated MLS teams, we have lawyers ranging from juniors to some with over 15 years’ experience. So we can provide the right support at any level,” Dramat shared. “Whether you need a simple data entry or NDA reviewed, or need someone to negotiate your strategic, high value contract, we have the person to do that. Our range and depth of experience is really valuable.”
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