General counsel and chief legal officers are trying to add value while lowering costs at their organizations. It’s not easy, particularly in this uncertain economic environment, but in-house leaders are finding ways to do it. 

Abhay Nadipuram, when he was CLO of a seniors facilities nonprofit earlier this year, squeezed out efficiencies in its sprawling operations by setting up a law firm panel and implementing a contract lifecycle management system. Last year he brought down his department’s costs by 60%. 

“I was starting from ground zero,” said Nadipuram, now legal chief at the Iowa Hospital Association. 

Our coverage of his cost-cutting efforts resonated with readers, who, like Nadipuram, are trying to do more with less. 

To help you do your work better, we’ve compiled nine stories from the last few months that readers found most useful. We look at ideas for building a legal operations function, how to get your outside law firms to consider alternative fee arrangements and how to manage risk as compliance gets more complicated. 

We also look at how to create an environment for everybody in an in-house legal department to thrive and how to approach succession planning, among other topics. 

We hope you find the selection of articles useful whether you’re a legal leader, attorney, operations manager or other professional who works in a legal department or with an in-house team.