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Talk about disruption. The almost legendary legal department at General Electric Co.—where general counsel Ben Heineman Jr. reigned for 18 years and enshrined the “lawyer-statesperson” model—is innovating once again.

In a move certain to shake up GE's in-house counsel structure, UnitedLex, an Overland Park, Kansas-based legal services company, said Thursday that GE has signed a multiyear contract to expand its use of UnitedLex's services. The move will reduce Boston-based GE's legal spend by 30 percent, according to the announcement, while greatly enhancing the legal team's digital processing across the globe.

Although neither company would discuss personnel moves or dollar amounts, the deal is expected to save GE between $40 and $50 million and allow it to repurpose as many as 75 lawyers, with some of those transitioning to UnitedLex, one person familiar with the deal told The American Lawyer, a sibling publication of Corporate Counsel.

On Thursday, Corporate Counsel asked William Deckelman, executive vice president and general counsel of DXC Technology Co., which made a larger scale but similar deal with UnitedLex last December, whether that partnership has met his expectations.

“We've actually exceeded them,” Deckelman said. “I am a believer.” UnitedLex delivered on its promise of a 30 percent savings, and more, he said.

DXC expects to save $1 billion overall, with additional savings over the next five years. The company was able to implement a new digital contracting solution that can process more than 65 million contracts per year, as well as a central hub for all department communications, such as project management initiatives, training materials, and team calendars. New technology also helps with global monitoring, reporting and management of outside counsel spend.

Deckelman acknowledged the change was a culture shock that required a lot of communication, both with his superiors and his legal team.

Before the contract, DXC had around 525 lawyers, he said. Now it has 125. Another 225 lawyers “rebadged” and joined UnitedLex, but still work with DXC.

“We are doing the same amount of high-quality work with 40 percent fewer resources,” he said. “The productivity is much greater than I even expected.” The lawyers did not take salary cuts at UnitedLex, he added.

A few in-house attorneys quit, rather than join UnitedLex, he said, but there was no major attrition. “This is not for everyone,” Deckelman explained. “People have different aspirations in their careers, but by and large I think the team is happy and engaged and energetic.”

He said he has not received one phone call from a disgruntled employee.

The reason the Tysons Corner, Virginia, company can now do more and do it for less is because UnitedLex has “the technology platforms, the process discipline and the project management discipline to run that kind of operation,” Deckelman said. “They are very focused.”

The change has worked well for most in-house attorneys, he said, because it's opened up a new world of opportunities for them. “They are seeing best practices not just here but in the entire market, and they see a career trajectory with long-term alternatives,” he said.

Deckelman also believes the attorneys are on the leading edge of a new wave in digital lawyering that will overtake the profession in the next three to five years.

“Their best opportunity to prepare is with UnitedLex,” he said. “I'm excited for our people to have that opportunity.”

Deckelman also welcomed the UnitedLex deal with GE, and said he doesn't feel that it will impinge on his client relationship with UnitedLex. If anything, he thinks it might help his legal team.

“I've known and worked with Dan [Daniel Reed, CEO of UnitedLex] for a long time and feel we have a close client relationship. I've spoken with the GE people as well, and we've talked about whether some more scale and collaboration would be good, within reason.”

Some of that collaboration will be up to GE's new legal chief. After having two general counsel since Heineman left the company in 2005, GE will get a third in April, when Michael Holston, formerly a general counsel at Merck & Co. and Hewlett-Packard, takes the reins.