安永近日联合哈佛法学院法律职业中心（Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession）发布了《2021安永法律调查》（2021 EY Law Survey），该报告指出：未来法务部门将面临来自CEO的巨大压力，如何改变现有运营模式、提高自身价值是关键。
报告指出，法务部门在应对充满挑战的经济环境和不断变化的监管环境的同时，需在控制成本的基础上促进业务发展，帮助企业风险管理转型。
鉴于疫情带来的影响，首席执行官期望对公司风险进行更严格的管理。然而在这方面，企业法务部门还需进一步完善。
61%的受访CEO表示，希望企业能够采取更多数据驱动的方法，以便更好地识别、量化和管理风险。68%的总法表示，法务部门对所属机构真实、及时的数据缺乏掌握，透明度的缺失限制了法务部门报告风险的能力。65%的总法表示，技术的缺失很可能会引起合规和数据隐私相关的风险。
报告的第二个关注点是合同流程的有效性。流程管理上的差距和技术工具使用的不足限制了企业对风险的把控。69%的公司表示他们的合同创建流程不规范，71%的公司表示他们的合同没有被监控，78%的公司则表示他们没有系统地跟踪合同。
费用削减是受访者面临的另一个尖锐问题。75%的受访总法律顾问预计工作量的增长速度远快于预算的增加。53%的CEO表示，他们预计将在未来一年内启动成本削减工作，其中就包括法务部门。
88%的总法表示，来自董事会和CEO的压力迫使他们计划在未来三年内降低法务部门的整体成本。报告还指出，年收入超过200亿美元的大型企业，在未来3年内将把成本削减的目标定为节约18%。
技术是该项报告的第四个关注点。近年来，数字化被CEO们列为第一优先事项，61%的受访者预计企业将对数据和技术进行大量投资。法律行业的数字化转型也是毋庸置疑的大趋势，总法们表示，更多地投资技术可以为法务部门带来显著好处，59%的总法认为这为节约成本提供了巨大的潜力。
不过97%的总法指出，在获得相关预算方面仍旧面临着挑战。报告指出，说服CEO和董事会相信投资法律科技可以提高效率、改善服务，并实现更复杂的风险管理显然成为了法务部门的首要任务。
外部律师层面，许多法务部门都看到了外聘律师的好处，但专业知识也通常伴随着高额成本。59%的总法认为，恰当的费率谈判可以实现成本节约的目的；72%的总法则支持适当减少供应商的数量。
此外，内包也是过去几年法律市场上最引人注目的趋势之一。78%的受访者认为，将工作转移到内部可以有效减少成本支出，但这对法务部门来说同样是一把双刃剑。总法预计未来3年的工作量将增加25%，而同期员工数量预计仅增加3%。
EY’s new report shows CEOs’ high expectations of in-house depts with lower costs
EY has launches its 2021 EY Law Survey, indicating that the legal department will be under enormous pressure in the future, and re-thinking current operating models is key.
As a result of the pandemic, legal departments need to facilitate business development and help control risks while controlling costs.
Risk management is a top priority, but confidence levels are low. CEOs cite risk management as the area they expect to implement the most change in over the next three years.
61% of the surveyed CEOs say they would like their organization to take a more data-driven approach to better identify, quantify and manage risk. While 68% of General Counsel say the lack of accurate and up-to-date information concerning their legal entities limits law departments' ability to report on risks their organizations may face. 65% of GC report the lack of data and technology will give rise to risks related to compliance and data privacy.
The lack of process management and technology-assisted monitoring creates a broad range of risks. 69% of companies report their contract creation process isn’t standardized, 71% say their contracts aren’t monitored, and 78% say they don’t systematically track contractual obligations.
In total, 75% of GC believe that workloads are increasing faster than budgets. 53% of CEOs respond that they anticipate launching a significant cost reduction effort in the next 12 months, including law departments.
Indeed, 88% of GC report they are planning to reduce the overall cost of the legal function over the next three years. The average cost savings being targeted by the largest organizations — those with more than $20 billion in annual revenue — is 18% over the next 3 years.
The role that technology will play in the ongoing transformation of businesses is inarguable, and CEOs’ priorities reflect this. 61% are expecting to make significant investments into data and technology. 59% of GC believe technology offers significant potential for cost savings.
However, 97% of GC say that they are facing challenges securing budget for investments in legal technology. Convincing the CEO and board that investing in legal technology can increase efficiency, improve services, and enable more sophisticated risk management clearly needs to be a top priority for law departments.
Many law departments see the benefits of external lawyers, including that they bring significant legal expertise. 59% of GC believe that a focus on negotiating better rates creates some opportunity for costs savings. And 72% believe reducing the number of providers can achieve cost savings.
Additionally, insourcing has been a hot trend in the past decades. While 78% of GC believe insourcing offers opportunities for savings, few intend to increase headcount significantly over the next 3 years.
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