Six Questions to Ask Before You Make Your First Legal Operations Hire

Key Takeaways

Legal operations can help legal departments work more efficiently, but hiring the right person starts with understanding whether the need is ongoing, project-based, attorney-led or operations-focused.

• Legal department leaders should first define what “legal operations” means for their team and avoid treating the role as a catch-all for contracts, administrative work or ad hoc tech support.
• The right candidate may be an attorney or non-attorney, depending on whether the role requires legal credibility, operational depth, technology implementation, spend management or cross-functional project leadership.
• Before making a permanent hire, leaders should assess whether the workload justifies a full-time role or whether interim legal ops support would better address discrete projects like CLM implementation, process design or outside counsel management.
• Effective legal ops professionals need more than organization and tech comfort; core skills may include project management, data fluency, financial understanding, vendor management and communication across legal and business teams.
• Long-term success depends on clear reporting lines, defined ownership and strong integration with legal leadership, IT, finance, procurement and other business partners.

More in-house leaders are asking when it’s time to invest in legal operations— a question driven by tighter budgets, rising expectations and pressure, and rapid AI adoption. Legal ops can transform how legal teams work, but because the function is still evolving and often misunderstood, knowing when and how to bring legal ops professionals onboard is not always clear.

In Thomson Reuters 2025 Legal Department Operations Index, 82% of respondents indicated their legal department has at least one dedicated legal ops role on their team, signaling the prevalence and growth of the role. As legal department leaders consider bringing on legal ops support, these six questions can help determine whether the timing is right for a more permanent investment in legal ops:

1. Does this role need to be held by an attorney?

Legal operations roles can be held by attorneys or non-attorneys, and neither profile is automatically better. The right answer depends on what the business needs the person to do. Attorneys may bring firsthand experience as former users of the tools, processes, and pain points the legal ops function is meant to improve, which can be valuable when the role requires credibility with lawyers, judgment about legal workflows, or translation between legal strategy and operational execution. Non-attorneys may bring deeper experience in operations, finance, procurement, project management, data, or technology implementation, which can be equally important when the role is primarily focused on building scalable infrastructure.

Before beginning a search, leaders should decide whether legal training is essential, helpful, or unnecessary for the role they are trying to fill. If the person will be driving CLM adoption with a skeptical legal team, redesigning attorney workflows, or advising on how legal teams actually use technology, an attorney background may matter. If the mandate is centered on reporting, spend management, vendor governance, or systems administration, a strong legal operations professional without a law degree may be the better (and less expensive) fit.

2. Do you clearly understand what “legal operations” is and is not?

Many organizations still conflate legal ops with paralegals, contract managers, or the “tech-savvy lawyer” who fills operational gaps. In reality, legal ops manages legal spend, optimizes workflows, implements technology, oversees data and reporting, and ensures legal is run like a business. A true legal ops professional generally does not draft contracts or perform substantive legal work.

Leaders can clarify their team’s needs by consulting with IT, finance, procurement, and the broader legal team about where support would be most impactful. Because the function is still evolving, defining the scope of the role helps align expectations and prevent mis-hiring.

3. Is your workflow robust enough to support and justify a full-time role or would bringing in interim support be more appropriate?

Many legal teams want legal ops but lack the consistent workload to justify a full-time hire, especially in lean legal departments. While size and revenue are key indicators – Major, Lindsey & Africa’s 2026 ACC Benchmarking Report finds that the ratio of non-lawyer staff, including legal ops professionals, to lawyers increases as companies grow –  legal teams should also consider what recurring issues could benefit from dedicated legal operations support.

Indications that suggest a legal team is ready for a full-time position include fragmented, underutilized, or missing technology, such as multiple overlapping systems, tools that have been purchased but are not utilized, or desired technology investments that lawyers lack capacity or knowledge to evaluate and implement. Readiness may also be reflected by challenges managing outside counsel, including the absence of a structured firm RFP process, inconsistent rate negotiations, or the use of high-cost firms handling routine or small matters. 

A lack of cross-functional alignment can also indicate the need for dedicated legal ops support, particularly when business partners expect unrealistic turnaround times or when legal regularly receives requests that could be self-serviced through a knowledge database. Finally, the role might be justified when attorneys are spending too much time on non-legal work such as administrative work and tasks that can be automated.

When needs are project-based, rather than ongoing, short-term legal ops support can be a better fit. For example, when a team is implementing new technology, like a Contract Lifecycle Management (“CLM”) tool, an interim legal ops professional can manage the RFP process, oversee implementation, and train the legal team. Once the system is up and running, the legal team can manage the tool and no longer has sufficient work for a full-time hire. Similarly, a new GC may bring in interim legal ops support to establish processes and organize workflow. After the internal process, the GC can assume ongoing management and may no longer need continued support.  

4. Are you solving a single urgent problem or building long-term operational infrastructure?

Some teams hire legal ops primarily to address one challenge, for example, implementing a Contract Lifecycle Management (“CLM”) tool. In those cases, project-based support may be more appropriate. A full-time role makes sense when the team needs ongoing oversight, workflow optimization, project management, and cross-functional coordination. Candidates increasingly view legal ops as a strategic career path, so ensure that your long-term needs justify a full-time hire and properly utilize the candidate’s skills and expertise.

5. What skills should the ideal candidate possess?

Hiring managers often default to traits like “organized, diligent, and good with tools,” but effective legal ops require broader and concrete skills. These include project management, communications skills, legal and financial knowledge, comfort with data and technology, familiarity with CLMs and other core legal tools, and experience managing RFPs. If the role will be held by an attorney, hiring managers should still confirm the candidate has the operational, financial, and technology skills needed to move beyond legal issue spotting. If the role will be held by a non-attorney, leaders should assess whether the candidate can build credibility with lawyers and understand how legal teams work in practice. Because the talent pool is still developing, hiring managers should distinguish must-have skills from those that can be developed on the job. Soft skills can also be as important as technical expertise.

6. How will you integrate and support the legal ops hire once they arrive?

Even highly qualified hires can struggle without clear ownership and alignment. Legal ops should not become a catch-all for every operational task. Defining cross-functional relationships at the outset, such as who owns tool selection, data, and budgeting, is critical to long-term success. It is equally important to clarify what will not fall under legal ops, such as contract review or administrative work. 

Determine upfront who legal ops will report to. Legal Ops should report to the General Counsel or a senior lawyer, like the Deputy General Counsel, who oversees day-to-day operations. This ensures that Legal Ops receives the support needed to succeed. Legal ops is most effective when positioned as a strategic partner, not an administrative backstop, and when supported by legal leadership and the broader business.

Legal operations can meaningfully reshape how legal teams function, especially as economic conditions tighten and technology evolves. Achieving that value requires appropriate timing, clearly defining the scope of the role, and deciding whether the mandate calls for an attorney, a non-attorney operations professional, or either profile with the right mix of skills. By assessing workflow needs, defining the necessary skill set, and ensuring effective integration, leaders can ensure their legal ops hire delivers long-term value. These questions offer a roadmap for determining when the moment is right and ensuring the role delivers lasting value.