Providing innovative, technological and operational efficiency solutions for the future legal function.
NewLaw and Legal Transformation
The legal industry is undergoing a profound shift, driven by the emergence of NewLaw and the broader movement of legal transformation. NewLaw refers to innovative business models, technologies, and service delivery methods that challenge the traditional law firm paradigm. NewLaw emphasises flexibility, efficiency, and client-centric solutions. This includes smart resourcing, legal process outsourcing, and the adoption of advanced legal technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics.
Legal transformation, meanwhile, encompasses the strategic reimagining of how legal services are delivered and consumed. It involves reengineering processes, leveraging technology, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within legal departments. The goal of legal transformation is to align legal operations more closely with the broader objectives of the business, delivering greater value, reducing risk, and enhancing agility.
Globally, in-house legal functions are at the forefront of this transformation. General Counsels and legal operations teams are increasingly adopting NewLaw solutions to manage growing workloads, control costs, and respond to the complex regulatory landscape. By automating routine tasks, and implementing contract lifecycle management platforms, in-house teams can focus on higher-value strategic work. This shift not only improves efficiency but also enables legal departments to act as proactive business partners, driving innovation and supporting organisational growth.
As NewLaw and legal transformation continue to evolve, in-house legal functions are becoming more data-driven, tech-enabled, and business-aligned. The result is a more dynamic, responsive, and value-oriented legal function that is better equipped to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing global business environment.
The PwC NewLaw and Legal Transformation team can support in-house legal functions by providing tailored solutions that address specific operational challenges. Our team offers expertise in process optimisation, technology implementation, and change management, helping legal departments streamline workflows, enhance compliance, and improve cost efficiency. By leveraging our global experience and innovative tools, we enable in-house legal teams to deliver greater value to their organisations and adapt effectively to the evolving legal landscape.
Challenges facing in-house legal teams
- Strategy: Developing and defining the strategy for a future-fit legal function.
- Operations: Redesigning organisational structures, operating models, and delivery models to create bespoke solutions.
- Technology: Identifying, investing in, and successfully integrating the right legal technologies within the broader organisational ecosystem.
- Collaboration: Enhancing collaboration within the legal team and across departments to drive efficiencies in processes and knowledge management.
- Risk: Managing an increasingly complex landscape of risk and compliance obligations, while proactively preparing for future challenges.
- Budget: Navigating financial constraints while striving to deliver more efficient and effective legal services, regardless of budget limitations.
- Data: Leveraging data to clearly demonstrate the value of the legal function and to provide actionable insights for the organisation.
How we can add value
- Legal Department Consulting
- Legal Technology Strategy
- Project Implementation and Legal Operations
- Legal Management Services
- Contract Remediation and Repapering
- Technology enabled Legal Due Diligence
Legal Department Consulting
Legal Department Consulting - combines PwC consulting methodologies, business analytics and in-depth knowledge of the delivery of legal services to provide our clients with a structured approach to identifying, quantifying and sequencing improvement opportunities to optimise the legal function.
Legal Technology Strategy
Tegal Technology Strategy - effective use of technology, particularly technology designed specifically for law departments (“LegalTech”), is critical for our clients to achieve efficiencies, adapt to evolving business demands, manage risk and ensure they have the data to make better decisions going forward.
Project Implementation and Legal Operations
Project Implementation and Legal Operations – once the strategy is in place, we can assist clients to operationalise it, whether that’s implementing new processes and LegalTech, facilitating the business to self-serve or providing the client with legal operations as a service.
Legal Management Services
Legal Management Services – our legal management services offering brings together the expertise of a law firm with best-in-class technology and process excellence, providing clients with an optimised service that acts as a seamless extension of its in-house legal team and can work either directly with the business stakeholders or sit behind the in-house legal team, helping get the relevant contracts and business as usual work done as efficiently as possible and freeing the business stakeholders up to work on more strategic matters.
Contract Remediation and Repapering
Contract Remediation and Repapering - once a review is complete, there’s often more to be done; contracts may need to be repapered, novated, negotiated, terminated and so on. We can deploy a multi-disciplinary team of lawyers, technologists and project managers to run a business’s contract remediation projects from start to finish, using best in class technology and offshore delivery centres to ensure we balance quality with cost considerations.
Technology enabled Legal Due Diligence
Technology enabled Legal Due Diligence - Legal due diligence is a critical part of any M&A transaction. It needs to be done thoroughly and forensically, but also at an appropriate price point. Our team of specialist due diligence lawyers can provide you with a tailored, tech-enabled service and are experienced on both buy-side and sell-side on local and cross-border deals.
Contact us
Sibongile Solombela
Director | Legal Business Solutions Leader, PwC South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 60 850 3966
Senior Manager | Legal Business Solutions, NewLaw and Legal Transformation, PwC South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)11 797 4217
