Case study
VKR Holding gains clarity over their legal operations
Thomson Reuters HighQ and Legal Tracker empower VKR Holding with clear visibility over global legal needs and spending
Introduction
Since 1941, Danish investment company VKR Holding A/S (“VKR”) has created value by owning companies that bring daylight, fresh air, and a better environment into people’s everyday lives. As owners of the VELUX Group, a global leader in roof windows and skylights, and the DOVISTA Group, which specializes in vertical windows and external doors, VKR operates worldwide.
To gain greater visibility over its legal needs and external legal spend across 125 business units in 38 jurisdictions, VKR implemented Thomson Reuters Legal Tracker. In addition, they employed Thomson Reuters HighQ to streamline matter intake. VKR cooperates with around 65 law firms worldwide.
The results were immediate. “Our external legal spend has decreased by 35%, and I estimate at least one third of that is attributable directly to the implementation of Legal Tracker,” said Jesper O. Pedersen, Vice Group General Counsel, Senior Group Legal Director, Investments & Commercial. “I expect our savings will be even higher going forward working with budget and effectively managing the time spend by external counsels.”
35%
decrease in external legal spend
800+
matters managed in Legal Tracker
90%
budget alert threshold automated
Delivering essential oversight
Visibility over legal needs and spend was a challenge. Although VKR’s central legal department, Group Legal, appoints all external law firms, its global business units engage their services directly and invoice them independently. As a result, Group Legal lacked visibility into the types of matters being worked on or the amount spent, limiting its ability to negotiate better rates or allocate resources appropriately. Group Legal wanted to identify where external legal spend was the highest across jurisdictions, law firms, and legal practice areas and to evaluate whether opportunities existed to resolve certain matters in-house.
“We desperately needed a software solution that would give us that overview,” says Jesper O. Pedersen. “Legal Tracker has generated a huge benefit by giving us that complete oversight of external legal spend and, more importantly, the legal matters being handled by our external law firms so we can evaluate whether external legal costs are spent effectively and in the most value-creating way. Finally, the insights enable Group Legal to intervene if external counsel handles matters where Group Legal must be involved according to the applicable Legal Policy.”
“It has made it possible for us to negotiate better hourly rates with our external law firms. We have also set Legal Tracker up in such a way that we can split spend down into practice areas so we can make decisions around insourcing certain legal specialties.”
Jesper O. Pedersen
Vice Group General Counsel, Senior Group Legal Director, Investments & Commercial
Avoiding budget surprises
Legal Tracker also helps VKR’s business units better manage their budgets. Previously, unexpected surprises at the end of a matter were not uncommon. With Legal Tracker, accurate matter scoping is enforced, and business units can evaluate fees before work begins. Group Legal can also assist with matter scoping and budgeting as necessary.
Jesper O. Pedersen explains, “This provides a unique opportunity to challenge the budget and the scoping of the work to be done by the law firm. In our experience, this has saved us external counsel fees.” He adds, “The insights Legal Tracker provides force you to focus on the really significant legal matters and to reduce legal spend. So, if a matter is budgeted at, say €10,000, we can make the call whether this piece of advice is a ‘nice to have’ or a ‘need to have’ and whether we want to go ahead and get an external law firm to work on it or not. It also enables us to properly scope the work that external counsel provides.”
One of the most powerful features of Legal Tracker is its ability to monitor rates charged and fees incurred. All external law firms must upload agreed hourly timekeeper rates into the system, which then scans timesheets and invoices to ensure alignment. Legal Tracker flags rate inconsistencies, alerts teams when costs are approaching budget limits, and compares agreed-upon rates to market benchmarks.
“If Legal Tracker detects an invoice uses rates inconsistent with the agreed-upon rate, it lets you know. Previously, we would most likely not have discovered that,” says Jesper O. Pedersen. “The system also sends budget alerts when invoices reach, or exceed, 90% of the budget, allowing proper follow-up.”
Eliminating bottlenecks
Due to VKR’s legal procurement processes, it was essential to enable business units to engage legal services directly through Legal Tracker—without involvement from the legal department. Otherwise, a bottleneck might have occurred.
To solve this, VKR partnered with Jalubro Consulting to integrate Legal Tracker with HighQ, creating a portal that allows external law firms to create matters themselves for internal approval. Jalubro automated the entire matter intake process within the HighQ platform, eliminating the need for manual data entry on the business side. This has saved VKR significant admin time.
According to Pedersen, “Right now, we have more than 800 matters in Legal Tracker. Previously, this would have required extra administrative resources. Now, the HighQ matter creation module eliminates that need, allowing external law firms to create their own matters and budgets for our approval.”
While it required additional training with the external law firms, the cost was offset by our administrative time-savings. “I have heard from our external law firms that they find HighQ to be straightforward to use. So, it’s a good solution,” says Pedersen.
Useful insights
Beyond the cost savings, the company values the strategic visibility Legal Tracker has delivered.
Jesper O. Pedersen highlights its ability to slice and dice data to generate customized reports for legal teams and management. “The possibilities are numerous,” he says. “You can basically split down the numbers as you see fit to generate reports on whatever figures you actually need.”
He particularly likes the front page of Legal Tracker, which provides an overview of outstanding issues and required actions. Tasks like invoice or budget approvals can be completed at the touch of a button. “What I like about Legal Tracker is that once you are familiar with the use of the system, it’s very easy to work with,” he says. “I would highly recommend Legal Tracker to other internal legal departments looking for full transparency over legal spend and clear insight into matters being handled by external law firms.”
“Our external legal spend has decreased by 35%, and at least one third of that is directly attributable to Legal Tracker.”
Jesper O. Pedersen
Vice Group General Counsel, VKR Holding
At a glance
Industry
Manufacturing (Building Materials & Solutions)
HQ region
Hørsholm, Denmark
Solutions
Legal Tracker
High Q
Year founded
1941
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