Legal Ops: 3 preconceived ideas to sweep away

"Since this summer I've seen a few ads pop up that were pretty poorly written and said: looking for Legal Ops-Paralegal"

Something to ruffle feathers Emilie Letocart-CalameThis is the first time that the French Legal Operations Association has made the fight against preconceived ideas about legal ops its new hobby.

What are the most common misconceptions about legal operations? What tips does Emilie have for dispelling them? And how do you write a job description that is both attractive and realistic?

Whether you are an expert in Legal Ops or just discovering the subject, here are the 3 preconceived ideas that Emilie confided to us during her appearance on Paroles de Juristes.

#1 - Legal Ops is not a paralegal

"Looking for a paralegal legal ops is like looking for a cleaning service and a corporate lawyer".

While the metaphor may seem exaggerated, it is essential to realise that you can't always do 2-in-1. As Emilie explains, the perimeters of two completely different functions do not always meet.

Let's start with a good old-fashioned definition.

• A paralegal, or legal assistant, supports the legal team. The scope of his or her tasks obviously depends on the needs of the legal team or the company's sector of activity. His or her tasks may be purely administrative, organisational or legal.

• A legal operations officer s mission is to simplify the day-to-day work of legal professionals, to improve the level of service provided to internal clients and to control the operating expenses of the legal department. Legal Operations is the management of an in-house legal department as a business in its own right. Their scope includes optimising processes according to the needs of the teams, budget management, customer satisfaction or knowledge management.

The 12 core competencies identified by the CLOC 👇

#2 - Five-legged sheep with five years' seniority are not commonplace

You have drawn up your wishlist and the outlines of the perfect candidate.

According to Emilie Letocart-Calame, "Legal Ops people with 5 years of seniority do exist. But they are already at Total, Société Générale and are not necessarily going to leave their position for other companies."

If you cannot find the profile that ticks all the boxes, you can opt for another method.

As Emilie explained to us, we should not hesitate to "give the chance to young people, who will not have a specific diploma because there is none, but who will be interested, motivated, open-minded with innovative ideas. "

#3 - There is no specific training for Legal Ops

You wish to recruit a Legal Ops and you are desperately looking for the mention "University Diploma Legal Operations" or "M2 Legal Operations" on your candidates' CVs.

You won't find any.

All the Legal Ops we talk to are unanimous. There is no single path to becoming a Legal Ops. There is no university or business school training, but it should emerge soon.

Here are some existing resources for training:

• The Legal Ops Commission
• The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC)
• The Association of Corporate Counsels (ACC)

Legal Ops job description template

What better way to write your job description than to use the Legal Ops Commission's standard template.

Here it is in PDF format, accessible on the AFJE website.

Here are the categories of missions you will find:

• Main tasks
• Budget and cost management
• Organisation and HR
• Knowledge Management / Gestion des connaissances
• Project Management / Legal Technology
• Communication
• Change management
• Key performance indicators
• Provider management

To listen to the episode dedicated to Emilie Letocart-Calame on Paroles de Juristes 👇