In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressure was on corporate legal departments to accelerate their transition from a strict legal adviser role into a vital business unit. When it comes to corporate attorneys, successfully executing this kind of change often comes down to embracing technology-based initiatives that cut time or effort from basic tasks.

Fortunately, the legal department at Wyoming, Michigan-based Gordon Food Service Inc. gave itself a head start in its deployment of technology. While the company at large has been around for more than a century, the legal function is still relatively new at just over 5 years old. In that time, the attorneys in its ranks have been steadily adopting technologies rooted in areas such as contract management, electronic signatures and document automation.