The Client
Litigation can be complicated and costly. Our client’s legal technology has made the process simple and cost-efficient.
Its investigation and litigation software has won over high-profile corporations, government agencies, and AmLaw 100 firms, putting our client on a major growth trajectory.
Since the company’s founding more than a decade ago, the multibillion-dollar Bay Area enterprise has grown exponentially to more than 500 employees. The business pursues aggressive goals, and the need for additional resources, support, and legal expertise can suddenly arise.
Challenges
Growth companies are in a constant state of change, which creates new risks. Our client had recently reorganized its sales team and created new initiatives for state, local, and education contracts. However, no one on staff had the requisite experience in this niche area of the law.
The company needed an experienced commercial attorney who was not only a contracts expert but also skilled in navigating the unique language and practices of state and local governments, agencies, and educational institutions.
Additionally, the expansion of the sales team created uncertainty. Cost-containment was still a priority. Yet skyrocketing sales and the accompanying volume of contracts had the legal team working beyond capacity.
The legal team needed to bolster the sales initiative quickly and cost-effectively. They needed someone special, a unicorn – with a very specific and specialized expertise who could quickly integrate, onboard, and hit the ground running so the team didn’t lose any more time.
Strategies and Solutions
This is a situation where a client gained the full benefit of Paragon’s well-played ground game.
The legal tech company planned to hire an FTE for this role, but they approached Paragon to help with an interim solution due to the niche requirements, their long onboarding process, and the immediate capacity issues.
They needed someone with tailored expertise, someone with more than just a handful of contracts under their belt. They needed someone who would build a great relationship with the sales team and be able to align both the client’s interests with their customers’ interests. This role required someone who could effectively balance risk with the client’s aggressive business objectives. And they needed someone who could handle this on their own.
Understanding the unique nature of the client’s challenges, Paragon took these requirements and methodically built a pool of highly qualified candidates – and the client deemed all of them to fit their specific needs and worthy of an interview.
Then, after selecting their first-choice candidate, a Paragon commercial attorney, they began to see just how powerful the right person could be in righting the ship.
The Paragon commercial attorney chosen to support the sales team is the sole attorney handling SLED-related matters, which include:
- Reviewing and negotiating contracts
- Aligning the intricacies of contracts with the requirements of the company and its clients in government and education
- Mitigating risk while furthering the company’s business objectives
Outcomes
When something works well, you just know it. Not long after our commercial attorney started, our client declared that “life was so much better” (an actual direct quote!) because of the top-notch addition to the legal team.
The Paragon attorney went beyond handling deals and managing new contracts. They also drew from previous experience creating playbooks to draft and customized one for the client. Playbooks had long been on the legal team’s wish list. Now, with minimal effort, the department finally had one.
Impressed by the flexibility and budget control that our attorney brought, the client expanded the contract with Paragon and extended the engagement four times.
Not only that, the client decided to cancel their FTE search, opting to keep their Paragon attorney engaged “as long as she is willing to stay.” This decision showcases the value of adaptability and financial savviness in a fast-paced, high-demand business environment.
Understanding your client always wins the day. Paragon attracts and focuses on quality candidates who add value to every organization they work with. We invest time upfront, before a search has started, to ensure our clients get whom and what they want and need, when they need it.
For this legal tech client, securing the right legal professional at the right time has facilitated their continued growth and helped them maintain the exceptional standards that their own clients demand.