Global Oil and Gas Company A legal service delivery model transformed on an accelerated mandate.
As part of an accelerated transformation project, the legal department of one of the largest non-traded oil and gas companies engaged our professionals for a multi-year strategic technology plan, then retained us to build an end-to-end outside counsel management program that maximized the value of procured legal services.
At a glance
- Service
- Strategic technology plan, legal spend assessment, and an outside counsel management program
- Scope
- The legal department of one of the largest non-traded oil and gas companies
- Outcome
- Millions of dollars in cost-savings opportunities
What the problem looked like
The company’s accelerated transformation project tasked the legal department with transforming its legal service delivery model.
The department needed a technology plan for the transformation and a clear view of how outside counsel was being used for different types of matters.
What Swiftwater did
Strategic technology plan
Our professionals developed a multi-year strategic technology plan for the law department to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness and achieve the company’s accelerated transformation goals.
Legal spend assessment
We gathered detailed task and activity data from all outside counsel and analyzed how firms were being used for different types of matters.
Risk and value matrix, Make v. Buy
The legal matter portfolio was prioritized with a risk and value matrix, and a Make v. Buy model determined how to reduce cost while maximizing value.
Outside counsel management program
We built an end-to-end outside counsel management program to maximize the value of procured legal services.
What changed
- Operational changes improved how legal work was prioritized, managed, and delivered across attorneys, support teams, and leadership.
- The strategic technology plan became the foundation for a more efficient legal function, with greater visibility, consistency, and speed.
- A working model for selecting, assigning, and delegating legal work identified which firms suited which categories of matters, and where work could shift to more cost-effective providers and alternative legal service providers.
- The changes generated millions of dollars in cost-savings opportunities.
Best for
- Legal departments under a company-wide transformation mandate
- Departments that cannot see how outside counsel is used by matter type
- General Counsel deciding what to keep in-house, send to firms, or move to ALSPs
Frequently asked questions
What does a legal spend assessment measure?
How outside counsel is used: task and activity data from every firm, analyzed by matter type to show which firms suit which work and where cost can come down.
What is a Make v. Buy model for legal work?
A model that decides, matter type by matter type, whether work stays in-house, goes to outside counsel, or moves to alternative legal service providers, to reduce cost while maximizing value.
How does a risk and value matrix decide which firm gets a matter?
Matters are prioritized by risk and value. Higher-risk, higher-value work goes to the firms best suited to it, and lower-risk work can shift to more cost-effective providers.
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