While legal operations teams remain a darling of the C-suite, they face big challenges in working with their in-house lawyer colleagues, according to a new report.

A survey of 200 legal ops pros released by Axiom reveals that 83% of the respondents saw a budget increase in the past year. This marks a sharp contrast with a separate Axiom survey of general counsel, which shows 96% saw budget cuts or hiring freezes.

But all of the 200 survey takers in the legal ops study say tension arises between lawyers and legal operations teams over power dynamics or decision-making authority, with over 40% saying this occurs often. 

Relatedly, “difficult colleagues and office politics” was listed as the No. 1 reason for burnout and stress by the respondents. 

“This tension is even more prevalent among legal ops team members who are not licensed lawyers, as they are frequently left out of the decision-making process, especially when it concerns the adoption of new technologies,” the Axiom report says. 

“This should raise alarm bells among GCs given the multifaceted and mission-critical role legal ops increasingly plays in new technology adoption.”

Bridging the Divide: Optimizing Legal Department Performance through Legal Ops, AI, and In-House Collaboration [Axiom]

Jeremy Barker is the director of content marketing for Breaking Media. Feel free to email him with questions or comments and to connect on LinkedIn.