For too long, the legal function has been seen as a necessary safeguard. Important, yes, but rarely strategic. Legal is often the department that slows things down, jumps in at the last minute and spends too much money on outside counsel.
In contrast to this traditional perception, I recently stumbled upon one of Jordan Furlong’s latest publications, which essentially states that a lawyer’s role is “to bring the law to life, to rev up the law’s engine and light up its control panel and get it operating”.
That statement instantly resonated with me.
And you may be wondering: where exactly does legal operations fit into this picture?
“Just as an orchestra needs a conductor to blend dozens of instruments into a unified performance, business needs legal operations to align lawyers, processes, and technology into a coherent whole”
If lawyers’ role is to bring the law to life—that is, to put the static framework of the law into action—then the role of legal operations is clearly to orchestrate that action.
In other words, legal operations are basically order and harmony. And while these two words may seem like an oversimplification, after years of experience as a legal operations expert, I believe this basic explanation is actually an accurate definition of the concept.
Just as an orchestra needs a conductor to blend dozens of instruments into a unified performance, business needs legal operations to align lawyers, processes, and technology into a coherent whole.
Or, if you’ll allow me, legal operations are to the legal function what a great coach is to a football team.
Think of Pep Guardiola’s Barça between 2008 and 2012. The players were world-class (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, etc.), but it was Guardiola’s system that transformed them into one of the most effective and admired teams in football history. He introduced structure (positional play), clear measures of success (possession, passing accuracy) and a culture of collaboration where every player understood their role.
Legal operations play the same part in business.
“..legal operations are to the legal function what a great coach is to a football team”
Lawyers are the star players, but without a coach who designs the system, tracks performance, and aligns the team with a common vision, talent alone doesn’t win championships (or best lawyer awards).
With legal ops, the function doesn’t just react. It plays proactively, sets the pace, and turns legal (and therefore business) into a winning strategy.
In an unpredictable environment, resilience is a strategic imperative. Legal operations help build it by creating playbooks, processes and infrastructures that can quickly adapt to regulatory changes, market disruptions, or geopolitical uncertainty.
Organizations with strong legal ops are simply better prepared to pivot without losing momentum.
And doesn’t that just make sense?
My parents used to tell me as a teenager: “the mess in your room reflects the mess in your head.” How can you be ready for change if you don’t even know what your lawyers are working on? Where do they keep key information? What do they excel at? Or even worse, how many lawyers do you have?
Maybe it’s time to bring some order and harmony by finding your own Guardiola before your competitors start winning championships.
Don’t you think?
Laura Paz Ramírez
Director
BDO
