A vendor email landed in my inbox the other day. Normally I delete these without a second thought. This one stopped me.
It read, “Legal teams often get blamed for slowing things down — even when the real issue is unclear contract ownership.”
I read that line three times not because it was clever marketing copy but because it was true and because I have lived it.
I Got Exactly What I Asked For
Many years ago, I championed the adoption of a contract management system. I made the case to leadership. I pushed through the budget process. I sold the vision. I got my wish. We acquired the system and then the problems started.
The problem was not with the software. The software worked. The problem was perception. Because I had championed the system, the organization viewed me and the legal office as being the owner of that system. When you own the system, you own the process. When you own the process, you own every question, every delay, and every handoff that doesn’t go smoothly.
Overnight, we went from being the team that reviews and advises on contracts to the team that manages, tracks, routes, and follows up on contracts. We became the coordinators, the administrators, and the help desk.
It was never my plan, but it is what happened.
The Ownership Trap
The vendor email nailed it. When contract ownership is unclear, everything routes back through legal by default. Business teams stop taking responsibility for their own contracts because “that’s Legal’s system.” Contracts stall between handoffs and Legal becomes the escalation point for problems Legal did not create.
The friction builds and it builds quietly. No one sends you an email saying, “We’ve decided Legal is the bottleneck now.” It just happens. One question at a time. One forwarded email at a time. One “Can you check on this?” at a time.
Before you know it, you are spending more time managing a workflow than providing legal advice. You are tracking deadlines instead of assessing risk. You are chasing signatures instead helping to shape deals.
That is not what in-house lawyers are for.
It Was Never About The System
Here is what I wish I had understood then. Getting the system is the easy part. It is defining who owns what inside the system that is the hard part. I skipped that step.
I assumed that because the tool would make contract management more efficient, everyone would naturally understand their role in the process. They did not. Without clear ownership, the path of least resistance for the entire organization was to send everything to the team whose name was connected to the system.
The tool did not create the bottleneck. The system was the excuse. The real issue was that no one had drawn the lines. There were no defined roles and responsibilities.
Legal As Advisor, Not Administrator
In-house lawyers add the most value when they are advising, not administrating; when they are assessing risk, and negotiating terms; and when they are helping the business make informed decisions. It is not when they are checking the status of a signature.
If your legal team has become the default coordinator for contracts, something has gone wrong. The fix is not working harder or hiring more people. The fix is stepping back and asking: who should own what?
Here is how I think about it now:
Business teams own the relationship and the deal. They initiate the contract. They know the commercial terms. They should be responsible for driving the process forward.
Legal owns the review and the risk assessment. We advise on terms, flag issues, and protect the organization. We do not need to be the ones routing documents or chasing approvals.
Operations or procurement (or whoever manages the system) owns the workflow. The system needs an administrator, and that administrator should not be Legal.
When those lines are clear, Legal gets to do what legal does best. When they are not, Legal becomes the catch-all. And catch-alls become bottlenecks.
The Lesson I Carry Forward
I do not regret championing that system. It was the right call. I learned, though, that advocating for a solution is not the same as designing how it will work within the organization. The system was a tool. What we lacked was a plan for who would use it, how, and who would be accountable for each stage of the process.
If you are an in-house lawyer thinking about implementing new tools, new processes, or new systems, learn from my mistake. Do not just sell the “what.” Define the “who.” Be explicit about ownership from day one. Put it in writing. Make sure everyone, from the business team to finance to procurement, understands their role before you flip the switch.
If you don’t, you become the owner by default. Once you own it, it is very hard to give it back.
Support The Team. Do Not Become The Team.
The best in-house lawyers I know are the ones who make the business better without becoming the business. They create frameworks, not dependencies. They build capacity in others, not reliance on themselves.
The next time a process breaks down or a contract stalls, resist the urge to jump in and fix it. Instead, ask: whose job is this? If the answer is always “Legal,” it is time to redraw the lines.
We are at our best: when we advise, not when we administer; when we support the team, not when we become the team.
The vendor email reminded me of that. Sometimes the best insights come from the most unexpected places.
Lisa Lang is an accomplished in-house lawyer and thought leader dedicated to empowering fellow legal professionals. She offers insights and resources tailored for in-house counsel through her website and blog, Why This, Not That™ (www.lawyerlisalang.com). Lisa actively engages with the legal community via LinkedIn, sharing her expertise and fostering meaningful connections. You can reach her at lisa@lawyerlisalang.com, connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyerlisalang/).
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