Legal transformation in action: flexibility, tech, results
Legal departments today are facing a dual challenge—managing increasing workloads while dealing with financial constraints. The pressure to do more with less has never been greater.
According to our Global Survey Report, The Great Reinvention, 48% of legal professionals ranked volume of work as their number one challenge, highlighting the growing tension between rising demands and available resources. At the same time, 42% of in-house legal teams are experiencing budget pressures and facing the compounding effect of consecutive years of rising law firm rates, as reported in the 2024 ACC CLO Survey.
These conditions are forcing legal teams to rethink traditional resourcing models. The need to reduce costs cannot come at the expense of service quality, and many organisations are realising that legacy outsourcing approaches—such as rigid offshoring models or expensive law firm reliance—are no longer fit for purpose. Instead, legal teams are looking for more strategic, flexible, and technology-driven solutions that optimise how work gets done.
At LOD, we’ve been working with in-house teams to address these challenges. By combining global talent hubs with AI-enabled efficiencies, we help legal teams free up budget, optimise resources, and maintain high-quality service. Below, we explore two examples of how this approach is helping clients overcome cost and capacity constraints while improving operational effectiveness.
1. Providing the right legal support when and where it’s needed
The Challenge:
In-house legal teams are under pressure to optimise resources—balancing rising costs with the need to refocus expert staff on business priorities. Traditional offshoring models, which rely on fixed low-cost jurisdictions, often fail to deliver expected benefits due to time zone challenges, quality concerns, and limited capability to manage complex legal work.
LOD’s Approach:
To address these challenges, LOD has developed a distributed global service model, providing legal teams with flexible, high-quality support in the time zones they need. By establishing regional hubs in Latin America, South Africa, and Malaysia, LOD enables multinational businesses to access legal services that align with their operational requirements. This approach has delivered cost savings of over 60% compared to onshore equivalents.
Case Study:
A global finance and data business needed large-scale contracting support across the US, Europe, and Asia. Their incumbent provider, which operated from a handful of fixed locations, couldn’t keep up with their evolving needs.
LOD implemented a globally managed service, placing more than 25 lawyers and contract managers across six international locations. A centralised delivery framework ensured consistency in quality, training, and knowledge sharing. As a result, the team now processes over 3,000 commercial contracts annually, providing seamless, in-time zone legal support that functions as an extension of their in-house legal team.
Beyond staffing solutions, LOD integrates its legal support into clients’ operating environments and existing workflows. This provides seamless reporting, real-time visibility on the progress of contracts, and access to data for continuous process improvements.
2. Using tech-enabled solutions to reduce costs and boost efficiency
The Challenge:
Legal teams need technology-driven solutions that create real efficiency gains and cost savings. While AI is widely discussed, many organisations struggle to turn its potential into practical benefits. Without the right approach, technology can add complexity rather than reduce it.
Our Global Survey Report, The Great Reinvention, found that improving operational efficiency is the top challenge for legal teams. With workloads continuing to rise, finding ways to streamline legal processes is critical to managing costs and capacity.
LOD’s Approach:
LOD has developed an AI-enabled claims assessment solution to enhance efficiency and accuracy in the legal review process. By combining AI-driven workflows with expert legal teams, the process ensures human reviewers focus only on valid and high-priority cases.
Case Study:
A US-based manufacturing company was experiencing a surge in claims, placing significant strain on in-house legal resources and leading to financial inefficiencies.
LOD introduced an AI-enabled assessment framework across service hubs in the US and Europe. The solution automated the initial claims assessment, significantly reducing the volume of matters requiring manual review. This cut review time by 70%, compared to traditional methods. The efficiency gains translated into direct cost savings, allowing the client to refocus legal expertise on higher-value work while LOD handled and mitigated the claims efficiently.
Smarter solutions for a changing legal landscape
By combining global talent hubs with technology-driven solutions, LOD is helping legal teams manage rising workloads and budget pressures without compromising on quality. These models give organisations the flexibility to scale, reduce costs, and reallocate internal resources to strategic priorities.
As legal work becomes more complex, traditional outsourcing models are no longer enough. In-house teams need solutions that integrate seamlessly into their operations, provide real-time visibility, and deliver measurable efficiencies. The right approach isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about working smarter.
LOD partners with legal teams worldwide to provide practical, fit-for-purpose outsourcing solutions that deliver real impact.
To find out more about how LOD can support your team, click here.