Have you ever been told your legal department needs to do more with less, only to be handed another tool to learn when you barely have time to breathe? That moment feels familiar to many in-house lawyers. The pressure to modernize, cut costs, and adopt new technology keeps growing, yet the daily workload rarely shrinks. Before adding another platform or initiative, it is worth asking a more basic question. What if the real problem is not a lack of tools, but a lack of capacity for exploring alternative legal services?
That question came into focus during a conversation with Maryam Salehijam, a relationship manager at Axiom and a longtime observer of how in-house legal teams actually operate. With experience spanning academia, legal technology, and alternative legal service models, Maryam has seen firsthand why transformation efforts struggle when teams are already stretched thin. Innovation sounds appealing in theory, but it often collapses under the weight of everyday demands.
Watch the full conversation with Maryam Salehijam here:
Why Legal Teams Struggle to Change
Most legal departments do not resist change because they dislike innovation. They resist because they are exhausted. Contracts, approvals, compliance questions, and urgent business requests fill every available hour. When leadership introduces a new system or process without removing any existing burden, it feels less like progress and more like pressure.
This is where many transformation efforts quietly stall. Training sessions are postponed. Tools go underused. Lawyers revert to familiar habits because those habits feel faster under stress. The intent behind change may be sound, but the execution ignores reality. Sustainable improvement requires space, and many in-house teams simply do not have it.
How Alternative Legal Services Restore Capacity
Alternative legal services are often framed as lower-cost substitutes for law firms, but that narrow view misses their deeper value. The most effective ALSP relationships are not just about savings. They are about restoring capacity.
By stepping in to handle overflow work, discrete projects, or specialized tasks, ALSPs absorb the pressure that keeps legal teams stuck in reactive mode. That breathing room allows in-house lawyers to focus on higher-value work, engage more thoughtfully with the business, and participate meaningfully in improvement efforts instead of avoiding them out of necessity. Capacity is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite for change.
Making Technology Work by Adding Support First
Legal technology promises efficiency, but it demands time and attention upfront. That is where many implementations fail. When teams are already overwhelmed, asking them to learn new systems feels unrealistic. As a result, even well-chosen tools struggle to deliver value.
Maryam emphasizes that legal tech and alternative legal services work best as partners, not substitutes. ALSP support can create a transition window where lawyers have the time and mental space to learn, adapt, and adopt new tools effectively. Change stops feeling disruptive and starts feeling supportive when the workload becomes manageable.
Building Smarter Partnerships as a Legal Leader
For in-house counsel, the real shift is mindset. Alternative legal services should not be viewed only as emergency resources. They can be strategic partners who bring perspective from working with hundreds of legal teams facing similar pressures.
Early conversations, even without an immediate need, help legal leaders understand what options exist and what has worked elsewhere. The takeaway is simple. Transformation does not start with technology or sweeping initiatives. It starts with reducing friction and restoring capacity.
When in-house legal teams get the right support first, better tools, better processes, and better outcomes follow naturally. If change feels impossible right now, it may not be because your team lacks ambition. It may be because they need help before they need another solution.
Watch the full conversation here: Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 11, Episode 6 (ft. Maryam Salehijam)
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