Under the Hood: Why Legal Leaders Are Driving Blind

The Car Analogy – Delivered Up Front

Most in-house legal leaders know what makes their legal department work about as well as they know what makes their car work. It’s a delusional relationship. Because you can drive - accelerate, brake, steer - you think you understand the machine. You know how it feels on the road, you can top up the washer fluid, maybe even check the oil.

But pop the hood and what do you see? A maze of parts, wires, and systems you can’t name, let alone fix.

That’s your legal department. You know the people. You know the dashboard metrics. But the engine - the processes and platforms that power everything? You have no idea. And yet, you’re under pressure to make that engine faster, more efficient, and more reliable. Without knowing what’s under the bonnet, you’re driving blind. Worse - you’re heading straight for a crash.

Why Process Ignorance Hurts Performance

Not knowing your process landscape isn’t just an academic problem. It’s a performance killer. Here’s why:

◼️No optimisation: You can’t improve what you can’t see.

◼️Automation failure: Automating a bad process doesn’t make it better - it entrenches inefficiency.

◼️Scaling chaos: Growth magnifies disorder when processes aren’t defined.

◼️Risk exposure: Compliance gaps hide in undocumented workflows.

◼️Tech misalignment: CLMS projects fail because they don’t fit your real-world processes.

PAA: Why do CLMS projects fail?

Because most legal teams don’t understand their existing processes before buying tech.

Platform Ignorance – The Silent Killer

Platforms are the connective tissue of your legal ecosystem. They enable workflows, store data, and integrate with business systems. If you don’t understand your platform landscape, you can’t optimise processes - and you certainly can’t implement new technology without chaos.

This is why process and platform ignorance is a double-edged sword. It doesn’t just slow you down - it sets you up for failure. Every tech vendor will promise seamless integration. But if you don’t know what you’re integrating with, you’re buying blind.

PAA: Why is platform visibility important?

Because platforms enable workflows and integration - ignore them at your peril.

The CLMS Disaster Recipe

Buying a CLMS without understanding your processes is like asking a mechanic to upgrade your car’s performance without telling them what engine you have. You’ll get something - but not what you need. And when it doesn’t fit, the damage is done.

Most CLMS implementations fail because the in-house client had no idea what the dependencies of their existing legal department ecosystem were that needed to be supported. Instead of buying a compatible system, they bought a feature list. Failure was inevitable.

And it gets worse. When you automate without auditing, you lock in inefficiency. You take a flawed process and make it faster - but still flawed. That’s not transformation. That’s entrenchment.

PAA: What happens if I automate a bad process?

You entrench inefficiency and increase risk.

The APEX Process Insight

Not all processes are created equal. Some are APEX processes - the big-ticket workflows that drive the majority of legal department performance.

If you focus on these APEX processes first, you get leveraged productivity improvements. Why? Because defining an APEX process forces you to define the sub-processes that support it. Once the big processes are mapped, the smaller ones fall into place.

And here’s the strategic shortcut: if your CLMS system is compatible with your APEX processes, it will almost certainly support the sub-processes. Compatibility at the top cascades down.

PAA: What are APEX processes?

The high-impact workflows that drive the majority of legal department performance.

The GLS Advantage

GLS saw this blind spot years ago and decided to fix it. We created the GLS Legal Transformation Tube Map - a visual representation of the DNA-level processes that power a legal department. It’s public, it’s groundbreaking, and it’s the first step in giving legal leaders the visibility they’ve never had.

But we didn’t stop there. We catalogued every one of the 2,000+ sub-processes that exist in a legal team. We built diagnostic toolkits - DIY and managed - that allow you to assess your processes, benchmark them against industry standards, and identify inefficiencies before you even think about automation.

PAA: What tools does GLS offer for process audits?

DIY diagnostic kits and managed service solutions.

The Payoff of Process Visibility

When you know your processes - and your platforms - you unlock transformation. Here’s what happens:

◼️Efficiency skyrockets: You eliminate duplication and streamline workflows.

◼️Risk plummets: Compliance gaps are identified and closed.

◼️Tech succeeds: CLMS and automation projects align with reality.

◼️Performance improves: APEX processes deliver leveraged gains.

◼️Agility returns: Your legal team can respond faster to business needs.

PAA: How does workflow optimisation benefit the business?

It reduces costs, accelerates deals, and improves agility.

The Bottom Line

You wouldn’t buy a car without knowing what’s under the hood. So why would you transform your legal department without understanding its engine - and its operating system?

GLS has done the hard work. We’ve mapped the processes. We’ve built the tools. We’ve created the benchmarks. All you need to do is lift the bonnet and take a look.

Because once you know what’s under the hood, you can make it go faster.

Ready to Stop Driving Blind? 

If you’re serious about transforming your legal department, start with visibility. Don’t buy tech. Don’t automate chaos. Get the blueprint first. 

Knowledge is the shortcut to success. Let GLS show you what’s under the hood.

Look to the right for available GLS solutions and knowledge (both freely available and disruptive commercial solutions).