One of the challenges you face when your organization is involved in Global Trade is keeping track of all legal information across borders. With different processes and systems used in different countries the ability to store, find, report, and share legal information in an easy way is more important than ever.
Managing legal information in a Global environment
One of the challenges you face when your organization is involved in Global Trade is keeping track of all legal information across borders. With different processes and systems used in different countries the ability to store, find, report, and share legal information in an easy way is more important than ever.
Single source of truth
A good solution to the problem is to adopt a software system on a central level and positioning this as the single source of truth for legal information. Doing this will greatly improve auditability of the organization and save time (and therefore reduce cost) whenever information is needed.
Using an online platform can be an easy way to offer this, as it makes it easier to connect to from different location without the added burden on your own IT teams. And with added security measures such as single sign-one (your IT handles access) or two-factor authentication (enter an extra codes once every X days to verify your identify) solutions in this regard comply with security standards you want for your legal data.
Think big, start small
One of the challenges you will face when setting up a global legal information system is one of stakeholders. Each country may have its own processes, legal requirements, or other unique elements that may make the requirements list for your solution seem like an endless struggle.
In this case it is often best to start with the basics, a less-is-more approach. This will also help in the speed of adoption by your local businesses, as a simpler system is easier to understand and takes less time to work with. Examples can be to simply start with one type of legal information (all corporate information, all contracts, or all claims). Or by simplifying data entry; the lower time spent on entering data around a single contract the lower the resistance offered to using the new system will be.
Example: Global Claims Management
This example of the described solution may be very recognizable to several GCN members; managing the claims coming in from different project and countries across the globe in a centralised way.
- Local legal counsel are prompted to enter and update all new and ongoing claims once a month via an automated email alert
- HQ legal can see an overview of all new claims, as well as updates for all ongoing matters
- HQ legal can communicate directly from the system with the local legal counsel for more information or clarification if needed
- The General Counsel can easily extract relevant claim data and report to the Board
- The entire legal group enjoys the benefits from a shared repository of legal knowledge
Example: Global Entity Management
Another example would be the work involved with managing a global organization’s legal entities.
- Local legal counsel enter changes to the corporate structure, whether its officers and directors, share changes, or other statutory information in a draft version in the system
- HQ legal receives an automated email alert on all draft corporate matters
- HQ legal can ‘finalize’ the changes by changing them from their draft status, or communicate directly from the system with local legal if there are questions
- The entire legal group benefits from accurate and up to date corporate information, including org-charts and alerts on expiring mandates
Want to learn more? Request your personal demonstration of Legisway here: https://legisway.wolterskluwer.de/en/request-a-demo