Since the financial downturn of 2008, the “cost center” law department has been more closely aligned with business goals, with an increasing expectation that the general counsel should have the same kind of business intelligence tools and analytics that are becoming the norm in other areas of the company such as finance and IT.

As more in-house law departments look to redefine themselves as “profit centers,” investment in legal analytics and enterprise legal management is becoming a bigger part of the general counsel's war chest. With this in mind, Mitratech recently launched its Certified Legal Analytics Partner Program, which certifies partners that meet specific criteria in the area of legal analytics.

Increasingly, the expectation is that the GC operates the law department as a business and acts as a strategic partner to the rest of the organization, and in particular, the executive team and board, according to Jason Parkman, CEO of Mitratech.