In Praise of a Pioneer: NetApp Leads Legal Ops Transformation

Michael Semer |

Exploring any new frontier takes a pathfinder. Even if it’s the frontier of Legal Operations transformation. Want to check out a profile of exactly this kind of pioneer? There’s one on display in a new blog post by the folks over at ThinkSmart, as they dig into some recent media coverage of NetApp.

NetApp’s Legal Operations team is led by Connie Brenton, of course, who’s also a founder and Chairman of the Board of CLOC. As a staunch advocate of legal technology adoption, she’s motivated the Legal Ops community to push steadily ahead toward modernization of both their own operations and those of their enterprises. Frankly, there’s no more inspiring example of that than what Connie and her team succeeded in pulling off at NetApp.

ThinkSmart’s TAP legal workflow automation solution was a cornerstone of the transformation taking place at NetApp. Not only did Legal Operations find immediate uses – and practically immediate ROI – in deploying TAP, the technology impressed other departments across NetApp.  So much, in fact, Legal Ops is now training them to use TAP themselves in an ever-growing variety of ways.

Two simple words can launch a (r)evolution

The mantra for success that Connie and her team want to share with others contemplating legal tech adoption? “Just start.”

The pressures facing Legal Operations departments are compounding every day, and there’s no stress ball big enough to squeeze away the reality: Legal departments need to evolve, sometimes forcibly, to meet their challenges. NetApp, though, shines a light back through the forest of doubt and indecision that’s grown up around legal tech questions. By virtue of their success, they’ve provided a guiding example for others to follow.

Their success, though, demanded Connie Brenton and her team take that first step forward. Yet knowing you’ve picked the right tech solution can help quell any doubts.  A quick-to-adopt, easy-to-use SaaS tool, like TAP, is a lot friendlier, people-centric, and results-oriented than old-school, rip-and-replace enterprise platforms. In turn, this makes the concept of “digital transformation” a lot more attractive for everyone with skin in the game, from the CFO, GC and CIO on down.

With developments like TAP’s integration into TeamConnect, the potential of legal workflow automation for not only streamlining processes but actually extending ELM throughout an enterprise becomes an accessible reality.  That throws open a new, straight, sunlit path to digital transformation.

But as they move forward, Legal Ops tech adopters everywhere owe a big debt to those who were smart and bold enough to first blaze a trail. NetApp belongs right at the top of that list.

Want to hear from other explorers of the legal ops frontier? Download these pathfinder insights today: