Many chief legal officers (CLOs) know the drill: your small legal team gets looped in after key decisions are made, are asked to cram your process into unrealistic timelines, and then gets blamed for slowing things down. When legal is brought in late, treated like a bottleneck, and expected to deliver under pressure, the problem isn’t your team. It’s how the business sees your role. You’re left playing catch-up, trying to prove your value in an environment that doesn’t set you up for success.
Forward-thinking CLOs are changing this dynamic by leveraging legal technology, contract data, and process improvements to expand their influence and deliver strategic value at scale. Even small legal teams can lead with confidence when they have the right tools in place.
Here’s how today’s CLOs are making a strategic impact and how you can too.
The perception that legal is a bottleneck is often rooted in when and how the team is engaged. Historically, the CLO’s role was largely defensive: review contracts, respond to litigation, and ensure compliance.
Modern CLOs are flipping this script. According to a recent survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel, nearly 44% of CLOs report they are actively shaping business strategy and advising their CEO. That number is growing. This shift is fueled by growing complexity in the regulatory landscape, faster deal cycles, and higher expectations from stakeholders for transparency, governance, and risk mitigation. Legal departments that continue operating as “reactive reviewers” risk being left behind.
The opportunity is vast for CLOs who lean in. By moving upstream into strategic planning, deal structuring, and enterprise risk management, legal leaders can influence outcomes for their business, not just react to them. To earn and keep that seat at the table, legal needs to showcase impact, increase efficiency, and deliver value in every interaction.
CLOs who position legal as a proactive collaborator unlock new levels of value for their organization.
Consider the contract lifecycle. Traditionally, contracts were managed in silos: legal focused on risk, sales on speed, and finance on cost. But contracts become strategic tools for driving revenue, compliance, and efficiency when legal works cross-functionally. For example, by integrating legal early in sales or procurement processes, organizations can attain these results:
Moreover, by using contract data to identify recurring bottlenecks, such as negotiation delays, approval slowdowns, or renewal surprises, legal teams can propose solutions that improve enterprise-wide performance.
One reason legal has historically struggled to assert itself in the boardroom is a lack of actionable data. Business leaders expect metrics, forecasts, and insights. Legal has often been viewed as opaque, slow-moving, and anecdotal in its recommendations. That’s changing.
With real-time data-driven insights, CLOs can anticipate risk, prioritize high-impact work, and guide the organization through change, from M&A to regulatory shifts to global expansion. As LinkSquares Early Investor and Strategic Advisor Tim Parilla explained, “The better the data that you have, and the more you follow it for decisions, the more consistent your outcomes are.”
Modern CLOs are using technology, such as contract lifecycle management (CLM) platforms, to collect, analyze, and present data that drives smarter decisions. Advanced CLM solutions allow legal teams to surface key metrics instantly, including these:
With tools like dashboards and AI-powered analytics, CLOs can translate legal activity into business impact, making it easier to communicate value to the C-suite and board. Automating manual processes also frees up legal teams to tackle strategic initiatives. With centralized contract data, legal can spot trends, ensure compliance, and support enterprise planning with accurate forecasts and insights.
In short, tools like CLM software transform legal from a bottleneck into a catalyst, helping the business move faster with confidence.
Perhaps the most important aspect of modern legal leadership is alignment. CLOs must ensure that legal’s priorities support the broader objectives of the business, whether that’s growth, innovation, cost control, or resilience.
For example, if the business is focused on international expansion, legal should prioritize cross-border compliance and localization of contract templates. If the organization is pursuing acquisitions, legal should be prepared with scalable due diligence tools and post-merger integration plans. If the company is responding to regulatory changes, legal should provide timely guidance, training, and process updates.
When legal and business goals align, the entire organization benefits, from improved risk posture to faster time-to-revenue to enhanced stakeholder confidence.
When legal is stuck in a reactive mode, it’s easy for the business to misjudge your team’s value. But when you reimagine legal as a proactive, data-driven function, everything changes. You go from being the bottleneck to being the bridge between risk and opportunity and between strategy and execution.
You don’t need a massive legal department to make a massive impact. You need smart processes, the right technology, and the ability to track and communicate your results. A CLM platform like LinkSquares provides the foundation for scalable, strategic legal operations, turning contracts into insights, automating routine tasks, and helping legal earn a leadership seat at the table.
Ready to turn your small team into a strategic powerhouse? Watch our demo to learn how our technology can help your legal team amplify its voice in the boardroom. Then schedule a custom demo here.