Corporate legal departments are navigating an era of mounting workloads, with a notable trend toward securing increased resources to manage this burden. According to the 2024 Chief Legal Officer Strategy Survey from Deloitte, a significant 82% of the 460 legal executives surveyed reported an escalation in their workload over the past year.
Interestingly, despite this surge, there is a prevailing optimism about forthcoming budget allocations. The survey indicates that 80% of these legal leaders anticipate their budgets will rise in the upcoming fiscal year, signaling a phase of positive change for in-house legal teams grappled with increasing demands.
In the United States, a spotlight falls on legal operations as a potential key beneficiary of these additional resources. Among U.S.-based respondents, 51% identified the expansion of their legal operations teams as the primary strategy to mitigate excessive workloads—ranking this option highest among other prospective solutions.
This pattern of “doing more with more” highlights a strategic shift in corporate legal departments. By focusing on enhancing their legal operations capacity, departments aim to streamline processes and improve efficiency amidst growing demands.
For more details, you can refer to the original article on Above the Law and review the comprehensive findings of the 2024 Chief Legal Officer Strategy Survey.