The Pre-RFP Playbook

Most legal departments have invested in the right structures: panels, billing guidelines, procurement policies, and RFP processes. But in practice, most outside counsel decisions are made before any of that kicks in.

Key takeaways:

• Why the sourcing decision happens before the RFP: Understand why the most consequential outside counsel decisions take place at intake, and why that moment is where governance needs to live.
• How AI-enabled intake works: Learn how AI can evaluate each matter against your organization's history, policies, and provider options to surface a recommended sourcing path in real time.
• How to build rules of the road that actually get followed: See how to codify your sourcing policies into automated guardrails that apply consistently across matters, practice groups, and individual lawyers.
• What the right sourcing path looks like: Explore the four sourcing workflows, from keeping work in-house to initiating an RFP, and how a structured process determines which path fits each matter.
• How to turn siloed firm knowledge into shared intelligence: Discover how AI can surface cost data, billing history, and performance feedback across your entire legal team, so every sourcing decision draws on your organization's full relationship history.

The Pre-RFP Playbook is a practical framework for legal operations leaders who want faster, more consistent, and more defensible sourcing decisions, starting at the moment a new matter arrives.