Learning what it takes to run a legal department while at Axiom Facebook`s finance team has been one of my strongest partners here since the beginning of my tenure. And one of the most important things that emerges is that the central problem is not the overall reduction of legal fees, but the judicious use of budgets. Facebook is looking for a highly motivated, detail-oriented team player to act as the Legal Operations Program Manager to oversee the day-to-day management of e-invoicing, reporting and analytics, legal vendor management, and legal procurement. This team member will also lead and contribute to numerous legal operations projects. As a member of the Legal Operations team, you will be responsible for driving legal projects and increasing the efficiency of the legal department. The department currently has more than 330 employees working around the world to support Facebook`s mission to develop social infrastructure to enable people to build a global community. This is a great opportunity to join a dynamic and growing legal operations team and work in a dynamic and fun environment. The position reports to the Manager of Legal Operations, Process and Tooling. After the economic collapse, there was a change in this dynamic. CXOs were more cautious about their spending, and their generosity to CCs began to decline. If you previously received $10 for X jobs, not only was your budget reduced to $9, but you also had to do X+Y work. The idea of having to do more with less was sown.

This was a major change in the in-house legal teams – the biggest buyers in the segment. The number of companies reinventing legal processes is starting to multiply. For example, SpotDraft and other CLM providers are reshaping contracting processes for businesses, or Axiom, which is reshaping access to legal expertise. Regardless of the size of the organization, legal operations can bring a lot of value through the integration of technological know-how, knowledge management, and process optimization. We focus on cost savings by topic instead of paying attention to aggregate cost reductions. The reason for this is that Facebook is growing aggressively. And, of course, legal fees will increase with it. And it`s important to look at the quality of that growth to make sure we`re spending wisely.

Absolute. And this change will manifest itself in customer pressure. Clients are now smarter about their options for providing legal services. Not only are they aware of their options, but they also know how to use them, which pushes law firms to change their dynamics. Before that happened, general counsel were in a good position to get what they wanted from their CFOs without question. This model did not encourage legal innovation, and it was convenient for lawyers to use their firms for any issue. Counsel. Hey. But if they do, a heavy balance? Yes, you are watching. The short answer to your question is that they absolutely are. There are conflicting priorities, and I think lawyers in the department often underestimate the ability to be congruent.

Yes, and I think you see the evolution of that. Of course, you see this with your own product and platform. Interaction between clients and law firms. We know that, as a legal industry, we are always changing so slowly and that law firms have really been at the forefront of pricing and delivery models for so long. That`s really starting to change. It helps everyone and especially the buying side of the equation. You know, in terms of how we handle this conflict or these competing interests, it`s really very easy with our law firms in terms of conversations, expectations, our own realities, our own financial constraints, but also to put in place financial models and engagement models that are fair to both parties. And you know, without getting too much into a conversation about alternative arrangements and additional levers that you can pull, not all afas are created equal and I think I think part of the problem. There are a lot of problems with pricing, but you`ve had this historical, effort-based model with law firms, with many industries, they`ve moved away from it.

You Consulting, for example, they really moved away from it. The law has moved away from it more slowly, but it is really starting to accelerate now. But you know, just because you have an AFA doesn`t mean it`s going to work well. Okay, you need results, and in our world, my God, do you need results? That`s right. So you have to have this, you have to have the right company to do the right job properly, and then you have to make sure that the economy makes sense, because, you know, I`ve heard a lot of horror stories where a client sets up a package with a company for a project or a business or an INN MNA agreement. Anyway, either the client feels like a host because, you know, they spent too much and they didn`t need to, or the law firm, you know, taps into their resources for various reasons and they have to go back to the client for more money. Yes, so, you know, I feel like we`ve done a really good job of having sophisticated AFA programs to use the right types of AFAS and understand that, you know, in your opinion, they`re very valuable external partners for us. Let`s be fair to them, but let`s make cost control important so they don`t be mutually exclusive and you can do both. You can have it all, really? I think there`s a certain amount of education in the industry that needs to be done from that perspective, and I think customers need to understand that and be able to be flexible. But I think we`ve done a great job with those aspects where we have all these programs, and I think it`s possible. In regards to Covid, tell me what impact Facebook`s legal department has had on Covid, what the last twelve, fifteen months have looked like and if you think there have been any real lasting changes in the way we work because of Covid. Yes, well, I think you know, one of the most important permanent changes is simply more openness to remote work and, yes, moving our workforce over time to be a significant percentage completely remote.

That gives you, you know, another data point. My wife`s business, which she has been for six years now, is completely far away. That they never have offices there. It is a distributed workforce. Coin Base has now gone in that direction. So, you know, listen, if our revenue gives any indication of that, we have everything we would have been in an office, you know, thirteen months now and you know business is pretty good.