LegalTech New York 2011 kicked off this morning with a keynote address sponsored by KPMG and Content Analyst. The session, titled, “Legal vs. IT: Turn the Battle into a Solution to Meet Compliance,” was delivered by Gabriel Buigas, Deputy General Counsel at Hewlett-Packard Company. Key highlights from this morning's keynote session include:
- Many companies struggle with a disconnect between IT and legal departments, as each has different priorities along with different scorecards and metrics. IT departments seek to improve information management and system performance, along with shifting their spend from maintenance to innovation. Legal departments are focused on compliance and risk management.
- Mr. Buigas shared some real-world examples of HP’s legal and IT departments working together on successful projects: the implementation of an electronic records management system, establishment of a regulatory compliance process, and updating/consolidating legal IT applications. Critical success factors in each included identifying shared goals, addressing issues that arose before they became escalated, and understanding one another’s challenges and providing assistance to overcome those. He also discussed the importance of establishing project management teams, creating detailed business requirements, and the often over-looked step of training and communication.
- The overriding message: IT and legal departments must take the time to understand one another’s priorities, which will help identify mutual interests and foster a collaborative working environment for almost any project.
