Scaling contract support without increasing headcount

Background

When we were engaged by a global life sciences organisation, their international legal team was managing a high volume of contracts across multiple jurisdictions. These included master service agreements, statements of work, confidentiality agreements, investigator agreements, and arrangements with third-party vendors and healthcare stakeholders.

At the same time, the team needed to maintain oversight of its contract management system and ensure consistency in templates and processes across regions. This was made more challenging by internal headcount restrictions, which limited their ability to increase capacity despite growing demand.

The requirement was not simply additional resource, but an experienced legal contracts professional who could operate independently, integrate quickly, and maintain quality and risk oversight in a complex, multi-jurisdictional environment.

The LS Law Approach

We approached the engagement by focusing on immediate operational stability combined with longer-term value. Our objective was to provide an interim solution that could function effectively from the outset while contributing to the development of the legal function.

We worked closely with the Head of Legal to understand the technical requirements of the role, the level of autonomy expected, and the nature of interaction with international affiliates and US legal colleagues. This ensured alignment between the organisation’s needs and the profile of the individual we would place.

We identified a legal contracts specialist with strong experience in UK drafting and negotiation, alongside exposure to cross-border work and contract management systems. In addition to technical capability, we prioritised commercial awareness and the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders across different regions.

The interim was positioned to take ownership of high-volume contracting work, while also contributing to improvements in processes and consistency across templates.

The Outcome

The interim professional integrated quickly into the team and provided immediate support across core contracting activities.

Contract turnaround times improved, and there was greater consistency in documentation across jurisdictions. Oversight of contract workflows became more structured, and collaboration with internal stakeholders and international colleagues strengthened.

As the engagement progressed, the value extended beyond short-term capacity support. When the organisation lifted its headcount freeze, the interim was offered a permanent position, securing continuity and retaining expertise within the team.

This resulted in both operational stability during a period of constraint and a longer-term enhancement of the legal function.