Toronto and Cape Town, January, 2015: Mitch Kowalski, a globally recognized thought-leader on the legal services industry has partnered with Exigent, a leading legal solutions provider, to offer legal transformation advice under a new brand: Cross Pollen Advisory.
The goal, according to Mitch Kowalski, “is to transform how corporate legal departments manage internal resources and external spend. In other words, buy cheaper; control spend and cost; and create value-add for the business.”
David Holme, CEO of Exigent agrees. “There is a significant shift underway in how legal services are purchased by corporations. Demonstrably successful in-house legal teams will be those that continue to evolve both how they deliver value as well as how they buy legal services in order to increase efficiency and control costs. Adoption of technology and process will be key drivers, but success will be ever more closely aligned to the core demands of the business.”
Cross Pollen Advisory uses a propriety mix of data analytics, design research and legal process engineering to create pathways for in-house teams to transform themselves in a measured, controlled and sustainable way.
“This isn’t about providing ‘off-the-shelf’ or ‘recipe’ solutions that boil down to simply asking for a 10% discount on hourly rates,” Kowalski says. “It’s about creating deep, meaningful change that’s a win/win for both in-house teams and their outside advisors.”
“Mitch and I have been chatting about collaboration for some time now,” Holme explains. “He’s known globally for his creative design of legal services, and his deep knowledge of the disruptions occurring in the legal services industry. He was the obvious choice for us.”
Cross Pollen is kicking off its global launch with two legal spend analysis workshops for South African GCs. The workshops will take place in March and will focus on the repurposing of legal spend within corporate legal departments.
“It just made sense to start with South Africa,” says Megan Jackson, Associate Director and Head Consultant at Exigent. “Exigent has been supporting global law firms and corporates from its South African centre for over a decade, but it’s only in the last two to three years that we have seen an uptake of LPO from South African clients. With all eyes on African growth, this is an opportunity for South African business leaders to leverage the lessons learned in the transformation of other legal markets. This is a very exciting market to be in right now and the opportunities for change are massive.”
About Exigent:
Exigent is a leading global provider of legal and business services to law firms and corporates in four major markets. Founded in the UK in 2003, the company has expanded to include offices in 8 cities globally and delivery centres in South Africa, Australia and India. Our offering spans a range of services including litigation support, commercial services, claims, business analytics and various supports services.
Exigent is now firmly established as one of the largest LPO industry players, with market leading contract management technology and expert software development capability.
As a provider of outsourced legal services, our philosophy is founded on efficiency and innovation.
About Mitch Kowalski:
He was recognized as a Fastcase 50 Global Legal Innovator in 2012, and he is the author of the critically acclaimed American Bar Association best-seller, Avoiding Extinction: Reimagining Legal Services for the 21st Century. The American Bar Association will be publishing his forthcoming book, The Great Legal Reformation, in the Summer of 2015. Mitch is often asked to provide law firms, legal clients and law societies with his views on the legal services ecosystem and where it is heading. As a visiting professor at the Law Schools of Western, Ottawa and Calgary Universities, he studies and teaches worldwide trends in the legal services market, and what they mean to lawyers and clients.
For more information and/or interviews with David Holme, Mitch Kowalski or Megan Jackson, please contact Megan at mjackson@crosspollenadvisory.com or +27 21 4216891.
