Legal GRC software on the rise

When the industry thinks about the technology needs of law firms and corporate legal units, it tends to lump much of the software under the e-discovery rubric.

But as the category develops, it's clear that there's a lot of software vendor development going on, such that more delineation is necessary.

Law Technology News notes that Gartner has defined a new industry that it calls "enterprise legal management," a $150 million to $200 million a year market. The focus of this market right now is on core disciplines such as records management and billing.

But increasingly, the industry will likely address legal GRC, which "focuses on policies and controls that arise from regulations and contractual requirements, and on managing the enterprise's relationships with government supervisory entities. Legal GRC mandates also may arise from legal enforcement actions, such as consent decrees, deferred prosecution agreements and nonprosecution agreements, or from corporate integrity agreements. Examples of the management, measurement, and monitoring of legally required controls include employee attestation to the enterprise's code of conduct, record retention policies, and automated fraud monitoring."

Some big players so far include Bridgeway Software, Datacert, Mitratech Holdings, and Thomson Reuters. I think that the niche will soon draw in lots of competitors, especially those in the realm of content and document management. Many are already seeking toeholds in the legal realm.

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