In-House Legal Operations
Help Your Legal Team Work Smarter, Demonstrate Value, and Support Business Growth
Carton & Co provides independent consulting to in-house legal teams, helping general counsel, legal operations leaders and corporate legal departments work more effectively. We bring 30+ years of legal sector expertise to help you adopt the right technology, improve processes, manage external spend, and demonstrate the value your team delivers to the business.
In-house legal teams face unique pressures: doing more with limited resources, proving ROI to the business, managing relationships with external counsel, and adopting technology that genuinely improves efficiency. Our consulting services address these challenges with practical, independent advice drawn from deep experience across the legal sector.
The In-House Legal Challenge
Corporate legal departments operate in a different context from law firms, but face similar pressures to modernise, adopt technology, and improve efficiency. The challenges are familiar:
- Resource constraints - Expected to handle growing workloads without proportional headcount increases
- Technology decisions - Navigating a crowded market of legal tech solutions with limited time to evaluate
- Demonstrating value - Translating legal work into business metrics the C-suite understands
- External counsel management - Optimising panel arrangements, controlling spend, ensuring quality
- AI adoption - Understanding where AI genuinely helps and how to deploy it safely
- Internal client service - Understanding what the business actually needs from legal and delivering it efficiently
How We Help In-House Legal Teams
Our consulting services for in-house legal draw on the same expertise we bring to law firms, adapted for the corporate legal context:
Technology Strategy and Selection:
Helping you choose and implement the right tools for your team's needs:
- Matter management and legal workflow systems
- Contract lifecycle management (CLM) platforms
- E-billing and legal spend management
- Document management and knowledge systems
- Integration with enterprise systems (ERP, CRM, compliance)
- Vendor evaluation and selection support
AI Adoption for In-House Teams
Our structured approach to AI adoption works equally well for corporate legal departments:
- Co-intelligence frameworks - Defining how your team works alongside AI tools
- Use case assessment - Identifying where AI delivers genuine value for in-house work
- Governance and compliance - Ensuring AI use meets corporate policies and regulatory requirements
- Training and capability building - Getting your team confident and effective with AI tools
Process Improvement and Efficiency
Working with Dr Lee Williams, our process improvement specialist, to streamline legal operations:
- Legal intake and triage processes
- Contract review and approval workflows
- Self-service tools for routine legal requests
- Template and playbook development
- Lean methodology applied to legal workflows
Internal Client Listening
Understanding what the business needs from legal - and how well you're delivering:
- Structured feedback from internal clients across the business
- Identifying service gaps and improvement priorities
- Benchmarking against industry standards
- Building metrics that demonstrate legal's value to the business
External Counsel Management
Optimising your relationship with external law firms:
- Panel review and rationalisation
- Alternative fee arrangements and matter budgeting
- Performance management and feedback processes
- Insourcing vs outsourcing decisions
Why Work With Carton & Co
Legal sector depth: 30+ years advising law firms means we understand both sides of the in-house/external counsel relationship. We know what works in legal operations because we've seen it across hundreds of legal organisations.
Independent perspective: We're not selling software or legal services. Our advice is genuinely independent, focused on what's right for your team and your business.
Practical focus: We deliver actionable recommendations, not theoretical frameworks. Our consulting leads to implementation, not just reports.
Flexible engagement: From focused projects to ongoing advisory support, we work in ways that fit your needs and budget.
The Carton & Co Team
Allan Carton is a qualified solicitor with an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School. Since 1990, Allan has specialised in advising legal organisations on technology adoption, client relationships, and business development. His experience spans law firms of all sizes and corporate legal departments.
Frank Manning provides technical implementation expertise, ensuring legal technology integrates effectively with enterprise systems and delivers on its promise.
Dr Lee Williams brings working experience in industry, including Lean Six Sigma expertise to legal process improvement, helping teams eliminate waste and improve efficiency without compromising quality.
Getting Started
If you're a general counsel, legal operations leader, or corporate legal team looking for independent advice on technology, process improvement, or demonstrating value to the business, we'd welcome a conversation.
Book a call with Carton & Co here >>
Email: acarton@cartonconsultants.com
Phone: 07779 653105
Carton & Co - Specialist consultants to UK law firms on technology adoption, client relationships, and business development.
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**Frequently Asked Questions **
Q: Do you only work with law firms, or also in-house legal teams?
A: We work with both. Our 30+ years advising law firms gives us deep insight into legal operations that translates directly to corporate legal departments. Many of the challenges - technology adoption, process efficiency, demonstrating value - are similar, though the context differs.
Q: What size of legal team do you typically work with?
A: We work with legal teams of all sizes, from solo general counsel to larger legal operations with dedicated legal ops professionals. The scope of engagement scales appropriately - smaller teams might need focused technology selection support, while larger departments might engage us for comprehensive legal operations reviews.
Q: How do you help demonstrate legal's value to the business?
A: We help you build metrics and reporting that translate legal work into business terms. This includes matter data analysis, cost avoidance tracking, risk quantification, and internal client satisfaction measurement. The goal is evidence that supports budget conversations and demonstrates ROI.
Q: Can you help us choose between legal tech vendors?
A: Yes. We provide independent evaluation of legal technology options - contract management, matter management, e-billing, document systems, and AI tools. We help you define requirements, evaluate vendors against your specific needs, and support implementation planning. We have no vendor relationships that bias our recommendations.
Q: How does AI adoption differ for in-house teams compared to law firms?
A: The core principles are similar - you need governance, human oversight, and quality assurance. But in-house teams often have different use cases (contract review, compliance, internal advice) and must navigate corporate IT policies, data governance requirements, and integration with enterprise systems. Our structured approach adapts to these contexts.
Q: What does a typical engagement look like?
A: Engagements vary based on your needs. A focused technology selection project might take 4-8 weeks. A comprehensive legal operations review could be 2-3 months. Ongoing advisory relationships provide regular support as you implement changes. We discuss scope and approach in an initial conversation and tailor our engagement to fit your priorities and budget.
Q: Do you help with external counsel management?
A: Yes. Having worked with law firms for 30+ years, we understand both sides of the relationship. We help with panel reviews, alternative fee structures, performance management, and decisions about what to keep in-house versus outsource. This perspective from both sides of the table is particularly valuable.
Q: How do you work with our existing IT and procurement teams?
A: Collaboratively. Legal technology decisions need to work within your corporate environment. We help you make the case for legal-specific tools, navigate IT requirements, and ensure solutions integrate with enterprise systems. We can work directly with your IT and procurement colleagues as needed.