Overview
In order to develop new solutions to the burgeoning challenges associated with the limited resources and bandwidth of its corporate legal department, particularly those related to contracts across multiple functional areas and business units, Western Union needed new approaches to a very old problem.
Challenges
It was imperative for the corporate legal department to develop a solution that improved legal outcomes, reduced overall spend, and kept pace with the volume of materials to be reviewed for its internal clients. Very often, these challenges converged in the same kinds of workflow issues— specifically, gaps in its prior review process, such as lost time recreating legal documents or language due to the lack of strong systems and processes to preserve such resources.
Solution
Collaborating with in-house counsel Debbie Hoffman and technology vendor Evisort, Husch Blackwell helped develop a multi-stakeholder contract lifecycle management initiative that would feature a library of contract templates, playbooks, and processes.
Result
In the first year of the collaboration, the team decreased outside legal spend by 18 percent. The savings in year two are forecasted at almost 70 percent. Concurrently, they’ve broken volume records on contracts reviewed by the company, all while reducing average contract execution time by 65 percent. Not only saving time and money, but also strengthening relationships with procurement and turning it into a competitive advantage.
The project was recognized by the Association of Corporate Counsel with its 2022 Value Champion award for delivering substantial value by cutting spending, improving predictability, and achieving better legal results.