Strange effort by a tiny law department to market its customized contract management system

Ladbrokes, the UK gaming company with four lawyers on its inside legal team, tied with TI Automotive for the smallest department to make this year’s the Financial Times list of innovative law departments. Surprisingly, David has embarked on a software development and marketing initiative in a Goliath market.

As summarized in the online description, the legal team “developed a bespoke contract management system with a procurement software provider, and is planning to sell it to other in-house teams and law firms.” Perhaps the software company will take on all the selling, installation, support and development. Perhaps Ladbrokes acted as the beta site. Perhaps the actual arrangement has been garbled by the press.

I have inveighed against customized software written by law departments, even more against small law departments taking on that cost and obligation to support, and most certainly in a field already crowded with major competitors (See my post of June 3, 2009: bespoke, customized software written for legal departments with 12 references.).

Many vendors compete in that space. When I searched online about this arrangement, Google ads aplenty offered contract management software from Ariba, Compliance360, Ecteon, Emptoris, Protivity and Selectiva (See my post of Nov. 22, 2008: contract management software with 11 references; and June 1, 2010: contract management and software to assist with 10 references.).