Have you ever felt pressure to “do something with AI” in your legal department even though part of you knew the real problems were much more basic? That tension is increasingly common for in-house counsel. Everyone talks about legal tech, automation, and generative AI, yet many legal teams still struggle with repetitive work, unclear processes, and constant context switching. Before chasing the next shiny tool, it is worth asking a more grounded question about legal operations basics. What problem are we actually trying to solve as legal leaders?
That question surfaced clearly in a recent conversation with Tanisha Minev, legal counsel at a fintech company and a contributor to a leading legal operations treatise. Her path into legal operations was not planned or formal. It grew out of frustration with inefficient processes and a desire to work smarter. That experience mirrors what many in-house legal professionals discover over time. Legal operations is not about tools first. At its core, legal operations basics focus on improving how everyday legal work actually gets done.
Watch the full conversation with Tanisha Minev here:
Why Legal Operations Basics Matter More Than New Technology
For many in-house teams, legal operations sounds like a technology initiative. New systems, dashboards, and AI tools often dominate the conversation. But legal operations is fundamentally about continuous improvement. It means taking the work the legal department already does and finding ways to do it better, with less friction and less wasted effort. Before embracing new technologies, teams must understand and master legal operations basics.
In-house counsel spend enormous amounts of time on recurring tasks. Routine NDAs, reviews, internal requests, and approvals quietly drain hours and mental energy. Although this work matters, a lack of structure quickly crowds out strategic thinking. Legal leadership suffers not because lawyers lack insight, but because teams exhaust themselves by overlooking legal operations basics.
Legal Operations for In-House Counsel Starts with Process, Not Tools
Legal tech and AI can be powerful when used well. They reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and support better decision making. Problems arise when teams introduce technology before achieving clarity. Without understanding where time goes or which processes fail, even the best tools struggle to deliver value. Strong legal operations basics must come first.
Many legal departments have experienced this firsthand. Contract lifecycle management systems fail not because software is flawed, but because teams never aligned on standard positions, workflows, or ownership. Tools cannot fix confusion. They amplify it. That is why legal operations optimization strategies must begin with people, processes, and data anchored in legal operations basics.
Data Creates Focus for In-House Legal Teams
Data does not need to be complex to deliver value. When legal teams track the types of requests they receive over a short period, clear patterns emerge. Do routine matters dominate the workload? Do the same documents cycle through review repeatedly? Where do delays consistently occur? These insights help in-house counsel focus on changes that truly matter instead of guessing where efficiency might improve. Using data intentionally is one of the legal operations basics that sets teams up for long-term success.
Once those patterns become visible, technology choices grow clearer. Sometimes the best solution is not new legal tech, but better use of tools the business uses.
Watch the full conversation here: Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 11, Episode 2 (ft.Tanisha Minev)
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