A recent shift in the approach to legal technology procurement in corporate legal departments is redefining the landscape. Dubbed “stacking,” this new strategy involves integrating a variety of specialized tools rather than relying on a single Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution. This approach is becoming more popular as legal operations professionals face frustration with one-size-fits-all platforms that fail to deliver across all functionalities desired by legal teams.
The origin of this innovative strategy goes back to a conversation earlier this year with a legal operations professional, who mentioned her plan to “stack” a CLM solution. Having piloted three different CLM tools in the previous year, she found each lacking in certain areas despite standout features. This led her to map out her specific needs and source the best solutions for each aspect, such as intake, redlining, and repositories. This approach marks a significant shift from traditional reliance on comprehensive but cumbersome CLM systems.
More information on this is covered in a guest post by Sam Flynn, cofounder and COO of Josef. Flynn explains that the deficiency lies not with the individual tools like CLMs but rather with the platform model itself. Many legal ops leaders have voiced concerns over enterprise legal management systems not allowing integration with favored tools, enforcing usage of lackluster in-house options instead.
Discussion at the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) emphasized how rapidly evolving technology makes long-term platform contracts unattractive. The legal tech space is seeing a surge of investment, evidenced by Harvey recently raising another half a billion dollars. Amid this dynamic environment, uncertainty arises as mergers and acquisitions disrupt market stability, making multi-year commitments to single platforms less tenable.
The advent of artificial intelligence has also shifted the ground beneath traditional legal platforms. Previously, platforms offered bundled features, guarding against the complexity and cost of integration. However, AI enables even non-expert users to easily connect various tools, using solutions like Zapier to create seamless workflows. As machine learning becomes more accessible, interoperability is vastly improving, making the tech stack concept not just a logical approach but a practical one.
Nevertheless, challenges persist, with the need for careful planning and execution in stacking technology. Users face potential pitfalls, including integration risks and increased security reviews. However, these can be mitigated as they become quantifiable costs rather than insurmountable obstacles.
The technological landscape has evolved in such a manner that both the demands of the market and the capabilities of technology converge favorably for “stacking.” The emphasis now lies on discerning needs before procurement, steering away from blanket platform solutions to curated, adaptable stacks designed to meet specific operational requirements.