December 1, 2018

By CLOC Leadership

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As the year comes to a close, we think about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re grateful for. We treasure the relationships we’ve fostered with CLOC members, our vendors, and our supporters and we thank everyone for their contributions to our community.

CLOC Membership Across the Globe

2018 was the year CLOC truly went global. We focused on connecting our colleagues from all corners of the world with an emphasis on CLOC’s central mission: highlighting our shared interests with a united voice for change. We began 2018 with a little more than 200 members outside of the U.S. As of this December, CLOC boasts nearly 500 members from more than 40 countries outside of the U.S. This is a testament to the long-awaited change legal operations professionals have sought within silos for far too long.

Beyond growing our international members, which now account for 1 in 4 CLOC members, CLOC held its first two Institutes outside the U.S. In January, CLOC hosted its first ever EMEA Institute in London which was attended by nearly 300 legal operations and technology leaders. In September, CLOC held its first Institute Down Under where 200 attendees gathered at CLOC’s first annual Australia Institute. Due to the overwhelming success of these institutes, we will be returning to London this January and again to Sydney in September 2019.

Our international focus hasn’t made us lose sight of our broad base of members within the U.S. Nearly 500 new members from 44 states joined CLOC in 2018, bringing CLOC’s total U.S. presence to 1,400 members. In total, CLOC membership grew by more than 60% in 2018 to around 1,900 members. Worldwide, CLOC represents nearly 1,000 organizations, including 61% of the Fortune 100 and one third of the Fortune 500. The collective legal spending power of the organizations CLOC represents is $50 billion dollars.

Outside of CLOC’s tremendous membership growth, our community focused on the substantive issues that matter most to our members. We launched several important industry-leading initiatives and a slew of actionable metrics. CLOC launched the Legal Project Management Initiative, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, an IP Management Core Competency Maturity Model Initiative, as well as most recently, the Cybersecurity Initiative. CLOC released survey data on a number of critical topics including Preferred Provider Programs, Litigation Matter Management, Knowledge Management, Board Management Solutions, and Diversity.

As we look to 2019, CLOC will continue to focus on collaboration across the legal ecosystem, including law firms, other legal associations, law schools, and regulators. CLOC’s core has always been about education and sharing content. We will continue to deliver high value content at our world-class institutes, in addition to our Initiatives which bring together players from all corners of the ecosystem. Finally, CLOC will build on the wealth of metrics we’ve amassed in a short time with one of a kind survey data and comprehensive information found nowhere else.

We’re grateful for each and every one of our members who have made our young, but mighty organization a success. In just 3 years, CLOC has changed the conversation in boardrooms, law firms, and law schools. Our members have brought to light issues that are far too common and can only be addressed with collective action. It’s evident through the hundreds of posts on CLOC’s member forum and the willingness of members to share advice and information on a moment’s notice. Collectively, we’ve elevated the stature of legal operations as a profession and codified the role as an integral function to all in-house teams.

CLOC is a non-profit led by a team of legal operations professionals just like you. We rely on the contributions of our community members to develop content and drive the conversation. Thank you for all you’ve done and we can’t wait to see what 2019 brings.