LawGeex, the AI contract review platform for businesses, has launched The In-House Counsel’s Guide to Change Management.

The guide finds that five leading law departments alone—JP Morgan, Telstra, NetApp, Discover and AIG—have collectively cut 507,000 hours of unproductive lawyer hours over a year. This is being replicated across tens of thousands of legal departments in the US and worldwide, in response to a challenge to deliver more efficient, modern and strategic legal operations.

Legal teams are ripe for innovation, with only 28% hiring more staff, while almost two-thirds of legal departments report an increase in legal matters.

Technology is also automating basic legal work, while 65% of in-house counsel taking  part in strategic business thinking, requiring an innovative mindset and change management strategy, the report finds.

The guide provides an eight-step guide explaining the change processes of leading companies, including interviews and case studies from Microsoft, Pearson, Adobe, Cisco, L’Oréal, VMware, Centrica, Aon and many more. In many cases in-house teams reveal the unique obstacles, tactics and strategies for maneuvering change among the slow-moving profession for the first time.

According to Noory Bechor, CEO and Founder of LawGeex, “Innovation is undoubtedly the hottest theme in law. Legal remains behind most other professions, but leading in-house lawyers are bringing fundamental, and lasting change. This is slowly transforming legal departments, businesses, law firms, and the wider economy.”

Mick Sheehy, General Counsel, Telstra, says, “Too much focus on maintaining the status quo ignores the fact that the environment around you is rapidly changing. Just as traditional law firms become disrupted by niche players using lower cost jurisdictions, specialist service providers and technology, so too will the ways in which corporate clients expect their services to be provided by in-house legal teams. We need to innovate just to stay still.”

Donna Kolnes, Adobe’s associate General, also comments, “As technology explodes, especially around machine learning and artificial intelligence, it is more important than ever that in-house legal departments be able to pivot along with the business. This guide brings much needed and timely advice on how to do just that.”