SE4 Legal Framework

Strength and Efficiency (“SE4”) Legal Framework for In-House Teams

Developed with over 100 years of GC experience

Explanatory note: In-house legal teams often face challenges in clearly demonstrating the value they bring to the business. This can make resourcing discussions difficult and limit opportunities for recognition. By implementing the SE4 Legal Framework, teams gain a single, clear metric that facilitates focused and meaningful internal conversations.

The goal of this framework is to provide in house legal teams with a set of specific product-enabled actions they can immediately take to ensure the team: a) is operating with optimal strength and efficiency given current resourcing and b) can demonstrate that fact to internal stakeholders in a clear and easy to understand way, i.e. by reference to a single-number performance score.

The SE4 Legal Framework assesses the overall performance of an in-house legal function, on a monthly basis, against two core dimensions: Strength and Efficiency. Each dimension contains two foundational pillars, addressing critical challenges and providing practical, measurable solutions.

Strength

Efficiency

1. Strategic Alignment

Summary

This measures the extent to which legal resource utilization is aligned with stated business objectives.

Explanatory note: While legal functions do perform a special role within a business, it is important to recognise that it is - ultimately - a resource which should be directed in furtherance of common business objectives. For this to occur, the objectives of the legal function must - at all times - align with those of the business.

Full description

Objective: To ensure prioritisation of legal resources directly aligns with business objectives.

Key focus areas:

Alignment: Legal objectives are directly mapped to business objectives.
Prioritization: Legal resources are allocated inline with legal objectives.
Reporting: Regular reporting on legal resource utilization is undertaken.

Assessment

1.1 Alignment:

1.1.1 Business objectives have been articulated.

1.1.2 Legal objectives have been: 1) articulated; and 2) mapped to one or more business objectives.

1.2 Prioritization:

1.2.1 Legal objectives have been prioritised.

1.2.2 Actual time allocated to each legal objective aligns with stated prioritization.

1.2.3 Expenditure on external counsel supports stated prioritization.

1.3 Reporting:

1.3.1 Current legal workload and priorities have been reported to the CEO at least monthly.

1.3.2 Current legal risks and mitigations have been reported to the Board at least quaterly.

Possible score: 0-7

2. Risk Management

Summary

This measures how effective the team is at maintaining legal risk at the accepted level.

Explanatory note: Risk management is a core role and obligation of a legal function. For this to be conducted effectively, a systematic approach to identification and mitigation is required.

Full description

Objective: To ensure relevant legal risks are identified, monitored, and mitigated inline with the business's risk tolerances.

Key focus areas:

Risk evaluation: Relevant legal risks are identified and evaluated.
Expertise: The team has the necessary combined expertise to mitigate each identified risk to the required level; or, where expertise gaps have been identified, has access to suitable external counsel.
Collaboration: Efficient systems are in place to ensure individual expertise (including that of external counsel) is accessible by the whole team.

Assessment

2.1 Risk evaluation:

2.1.1 Identify all relevant legal risks.

2.1.2 Evaluate each relevant legal risk by assigning a value of either: a) managed through sufficient existing internal expertise; b) plan to increase internal expertise to sufficient level; or c) addressed through external expertise.

2.2 Expertise:

2.2.1 Where a risk requires a plan to increase internal expertise, that plan has been clearly articulated.

2.2.2 Where a risk is addressed through external counsel, relevant counsel has been selected.

2.2.3 Progress against plans to mitigate risk through increased internal expertise have been reviewed at least monthly.

2.3 Collaboration:

2.3.1 Team has default access (to the extent appropriate by reference to role) to combined workflow.

2.3.2 Team workflow has been reviewed by each team member (either as a group or asynchronously) at least weekly.

Possible score: 0-7

3. Operational Efficiency

Summary

This measures how efficient the team is at being across matters requiring legal input and delivering value.

Explanatory note: Given the inherently limited nature of a legal function's resources, ensuring the efficient utilisation of those resources is critical not just to the function’s success but to the overall success of the business. Technology must not be a barrier.

Full description

Objective: To ensure processes remain streamlined to maximize efficiency.

Key focus areas:

Intake: Eliminate (through self-service resources and automation) work which does not require direct legal input and ensure engagements which do require direct legal input are both easy for the business to initiate and easy for the legal team to allocate to the most efficient legal resource.
Task management: Efficient systems are in place for managing tasks and actions relating to legal work.
Noise reduction: Eliminate notifications to team members about work which is not relevant to those team members.

Assessment

3.1 Intake:

3.1.1 Self-service resources and automation are in place for all work which does not require direct legal input.

3.1.2 All work which is able to be assigned to the most appropriate team member in advance is automatically directed to that team member.

3.1.3 All work which is not able to be assigned to the most appropriate team member in advance is directed to a shared inbox with an easy means of then being assigned to, or picked up by, the most appropriate team member (with other team members having visibility over that fact).

3.1.4 Complete monthly review of self-service resources and automation opportunities.

3.2 Task management:

3.2 Efficient systems are in place for managing tasks and actions relating to legal work.

3.3 Noise reduction:

3.3 Eliminate notifications to team members about work which is not relevant to those team members.

Possible score: 0-6

4. Knowledge Management

Summary

This measures how much individual legal and institutional knowledge is retained by the team, and how accessible it is.

Explanatory note: A large factor in the overall efficiency of a legal function is its ability to leverage past investment to minimise current workload. Teams should have an efficient way to tap into existing knowledge to eliminate duplication of efforts.

Full description

Objective: To consolidate legal knowledge for collaboration and long-term retention.

Key focus areas:

Centralization: Store all information relating to specific legal matters, material contracts, and any information of a general reusable nature, in a central repository.
Accessibility: Ensure centralised information is easily accessible by the broadest team audience possible, given the nature of the information.
Collaboration: Ensure team members have a maximally efficient pathway for in-context collaboration.

Assessment

4.1 Centralisation:

4.1.1 All communication and content relating to a specific legal matter is assigned to a single digital file and stored in a central repository.

4.1.2 All material contracts are stored in a central repository and - at a minimum - are tracked by expiry date.

4.1.3 All information of a general reusable nature is appropriately labelled and stored in a central repository.

4.2 Accessibility:

4.2 Unless strictly necessary to preserve confidentiality, all legal matters and resources are, by default, accessible to all legal team members.

4.3 Collaboration:

4.3.1 Team members are able to communicate about a matter without forwarding context.

4.3.2 All team communication relating to a matter is assigned to that matter’s digital file.

Possible score: 0-6

Performance Score

Total Score/26*100 (For example: 22/26*100 = 85% performance)

The SE4 Legal Framework is an open source community-led initiative intended to benefit all in-house teams of every size and in every industry.

Get in touch to learn more.