Changes in the legal ecosystem: more targeted and cost-effective solutions with Caroline Graham, Head of Legal Operations and Transformation at Howden, Helga Butcher, Advisory Consultant at Cognia and Janet Taylor-Hall, CEO at Cognia.
A lot of the conversations we had last year centred around a particular theme: many legal teams are still defaulting to a narrow set of providers, even though the legal ecosystem now offers a much boarder range of targeted and cost-effective solutions. A more representative legal panel reflects this shift. It brings together specialised partners, who tackle specific problems with the right mix of expertise, technology and delivery models to create solutions faster, more efficiently and cost effectively.
Here are the key takeaways from the discussion:
Why organisations are turning to ALSPs:
Our panellists shared real-world drivers for ALSP adoption:
- Cost optimisation and efficiency – reducing external legal spend while maintaining quality
- Access to multidisciplinary teams – blending legal expertise with process, data, and technology skills (legal engineers)
- Flexibility and scalability – quickly augmenting teams without long-term headcount commitments
- Technology enablement – getting support for AI adoption, automation readiness, and process improvement
Real barriers to adoption:
- Established relationships – in-house teams longstanding ties to traditional law firms
- Lack of data – difficulty quantifying current costs and demonstrating ROI
- Budget structures – legal spend often sits within business units, making centralised change difficult
- Change management – successfully integrating ALSPs requires treating it like any transformation program, with communication, training, and ongoing dialogue
The power of pilots:
There is power in starting small with clearly defined pilot projects (6-9 months) to:
- Collect baseline data and establish KPIs
- Build internal confidence and demonstrate value
- Test new ways of working without major organisational disruption
- Create business cases for broader adoption
What makes ALSPs different:
Unlike traditional law firms, ALSPs bring:
- Project management discipline and documented processes
- Outcome-based pricing models (no hourly billing)
- "Legal engineers" who bridge the gap between legal, technology, and data
- Embedded partnership models that integrate seamlessly with in-house teams
If you have any further questions on this topic or would like to discuss further, contact us here
