Top 5 takeaways from CLOC’s #CGI2022

Last week was CLOC’s global institute. While this event is usually held annually, this was the first time the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) brought its community together since 2019 – and attendees were jazzed to be back. We soaked up every opportunity, attending sessions, hitting the various events, and taking in the expo. After an action-packed week, here are 5 of our top take-aways. 

1) Legal Ops is evolving as function 

“Legal Operations teams can be defined in two ways. We can go down the road of, ‘We just take direction and help everybody else.’ Or we can become truly strategic leaders.” ~ Mary O’Carroll, Ironclad

Mary O’Carroll helped pioneer the field of legal operations during her 13 years at Google. She was also instrumental in the forming and building of CLOC. She knows the field inside and out and has witnessed its growth. But as with any leading field, each day brings new technology, new processes, and new opportunities. Now, she says, is the time for legal ops leaders to get out from behind the relative comfort of supporting others, and step into real leadership positions. “We cannot get stuck being the back-office to the back-office,” she says. 

LEARN MORE: Subscribe to Mary O’Carroll’s new podcast, Pearls On, Gloves Off, for more of her wisdom and insights.

2) Personal branding has evolved beyond consumer marketing

“Having a strong personal brand is more than just having visibility. It’s also having the substance to back it up.” ~ Alex Su, Ironclad

Both of Alex Su’s sessions on personal branding were packed, which is a testament to how hungry people are to learn the best ways to showcase themselves in a meaningful and authentic way. TikTokker Su – aka: LegalTechBro – offered his practical advice in such a compelling format that we really understood the value of building a personal brand for business and career purposes. Influencers aren’t just for consumer brands anymore; they’re a valuable part of marketing and growth strategies for any type of business.  

LEARN MORE: Ready to step up your personal brand in support of your career? Alex is leading a virtual event on personal branding that’s coming up on June 1. See you there! 

3) Companies see the value of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) 

“Senior leadership at Zoom knows CLM is an important project. However, project really isn’t a big enough word. At the end of the day, it’s about the value digital contracting brings to our department, as well as to our growing organization, and that value is astronomical.” ~Allison Silver, Zoom 

Managing the contracting process can be expensive and time-consuming, especially as the volume of contracts and the pace of modern business increases. Your contracts dictate the speed of business: when your contracts are fast, your business is fast. When your contracts are slow, your business is slow. 

Companies like Zoom use CLM platforms to save time and money. With the right one, companies see an absolute ton of value – they can close deals faster, reduce contract management expenses (including outsourced legal fees), and dramatically improve renewal management.

LEARN MORE: Join us at State of Digital Contracting event on June 9 as some of today’s top contract innovators discuss CLM and the new keys to contracting success. We’re going back to school, and we promise a good time.

4) Ease of use is the key to CLM adoption

“Before Ironclad, we had a homegrown system called… email. I needed a system that everyone could work with — as easy to use as an iPhone, with zero instructions, a modern interface, and a Workflow Builder. I found that in Ironclad.” ~ Angela Mendenhall, Convoy

Emailing contracts back and forth results in a lot of frustration–not to mention chaos. Fortunately CLM platforms like Ironclad eliminate the pain. When collaborators can access a centralized database at their own convenience, everybody wins.

But–and here’s the key–it has to be easy to use. CLM software has to operate as an all-in-one tool, bringing everything together in a format that’s intuitive and easy to navigate. There were plenty of CLM vendors at CLOC, but how many of them can boast 100% adoption rates? As one enthusiastic CLOC attendee said, “Wherever I go in life, I’m taking Ironclad.” 

LEARN MORE: Watch this on-demand webinar, packed with practical strategies and tips, to learn how so many Ironclad customers achieve 100% adoption. 

5) Legal has to learn how to do more with less

“Legal is out of the way of 80% of our sales deals.” ~ Catherine Choe, Everlaw

Businesses are moving faster and faster – yet the economic slowdown means it’s one of those times when we’ve got to start talking more with less. Legal teams are no exception. At CLOC, Everlaw’s Catherine Choe demonstrated how Ironclad makes it easy to speed the entire contract process. Not only has this helped the team save time and run more efficiently, it also removes the cost burden of additional legal work. 

LEARN MORE: Ironclad is the smart way to make and manage digital business contracts. Sign up for a custom demo to see how it can help speed every part of your business.