Centralized platform improves global collaboration by making legal matters accessible across regions.
The Schaeffler Group, founded in 1946, is a pioneer in motion technology specializing in innovative solutions that aim to make motion smarter, cleaner and safer. The global family-owned enterprise is headquartered in Germany and these days employs 115,000 staff across 250 locations in 55 countries.
Schaeffler’s Legal department comprises 130 professionals operating in a matrix structure. The team adopts a ‘key lawyer’ approach, with business units having dedicated legal counterparts to address their specialized needs. Michaela Karl, Legal Operations Specialist at Schaeffler, says, “We don’t use a frontal logic for the business to connect with Legal.” Rather, employees interact with specific legal counterparts thereby strengthening collaboration.
Before adopting LawVu, Schaeffler’s Legal department relied on a SharePoint-based document management system integrated into Outlook to manage its legal matters. While functional to a degree, the system lacked transparency, efficient collaboration tools, and the robust reporting capabilities required to support resource management and decision-making on a global scale.
“With our team dispersed across regions, from Mexico to South Korea, we struggled with time zone issues, lack of transparency and ineffective workload management,” says Michaela. It was these concerns that prompted the search for a comprehensive legal matter management solution.
Simplicity and flexibility were the main drivers in Schaeffler’s decision to implement LawVu. “We needed something straightforward and self-explanatory – it was imperative that it didn’t require extensive onboarding or ongoing support from external providers – and LawVu met these criteria perfectly,” says Michaela.
She also appreciated the honest and open exchange experienced with LawVu from the get-go. “It was our experience that LawVu is keen to make daily business life easier for their customers and we felt we were in very good hands.
“It was not just the usage of the system, the ideas we shared were received with enthusiasm from LawVu’s dedicated team which was standout and decisive for our decision.”
The implementation process ran smoothly and, crucially, stayed within Schaeffler’s expected timeline. It included customizing the system, training users and conducting a test phase where users became familiar with LawVu in a sandbox environment before the official roll-out. “We held workshops with the various Legal divisions to create tailored matter types and fields that aligned with their specific workflows,” Michaela explains. “By the time we rolled out LawVu, many users had already experienced the platform, which helped make the transition from our previous system seamless.”
According to Schaeffler, one of the standout benefits of LawVu is its ability to centralize legal work and enhance collaboration across a global team; its unified repository means all legal matters can be logged, managed and accessed from any location.
“Using LawVu, everyone knows where to find updated and accurate information, no matter which part of the world or what time zone they’re in which is crucial for a global legal team,” says Michaela.
Thanks to LawVu’s Outlook integration, workflows are further simplified by allowing lawyers to log emails and track matters directly within the platform, thus maintaining alignment with established habits. This ease of use has ensured that even those less tech-savvy have quickly adapted to the system, enabling widespread adoption across Schaeffler’s Legal team.
“We now have a better understanding of where requests to our team come from and this enables us to take informed actions as needed, such as additional trainings for the business or providing new templates.
“The most important benefit from a Legal Operations point of view is that we are able to provide reliable reports, allowing for budget negotiations and workload allocation.”
LawVu has revolutionized Schaeffler’s approach to matter management by creating a foundation for comprehensive and reliable reporting. The use of uniform matter types and structured fields has empowered the company to analyze workloads, identify resource demand and trends across different legal areas.
“Previously, we couldn’t provide actionable data when justifying additional resources or explaining workload challenges,” says Michaela. “Now we can present accurate figures about where requests are coming from and why. These insights enable us to make data-driven decisions, whether about resource allocation, training needs or developing new templates.”
The transparency provided by LawVu helps the Legal team proactively identify areas for improvement and demonstrate its value to the wider business.
By offering clear, data-backed insights, Schaeffler’s Legal Operations team can support budget negotiations, improve efficiency and reinforce its strategic role within the organization.
“The days of Legal saying ‘we need more lawyers because we are Legal’ are over but fortunately we now have reliable data for the discussion with our senior management.”
Michaela says that due to the thoughtful implementation of LawVu, Schaeffler’s Legal team has modernized its workflows and increased transparency.
As to the future of Legal Operations, Michaela says knowledge management is a big topic within her team and the wider profession. “To have all the critical information available without spending time searching for it is vital and I think AI will play a role in solving this issue.”
A further benefit of using LawVu, says Michaela, is the transparency of the topics being addressed by the Legal team. “LawVu has empowered us to deliver better results and make smarter decisions. It’s a tool that truly supports our mission of enabling our lawyers to focus on what they do best – providing exceptional legal advice.”
Schaeffler’s collaboration with LawVu highlights the value of aligning technology with operational needs to support meaningful growth and innovation in legal operations on a global scale. Reflecting on the partnership, Michaela says, “Even after two years of use, we would choose LawVu again.”
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