Sometimes you only realise whether you’ve actually understood something when you’re forced to work with it. That was exactly my situation last week in Cologne. I’ve been part of the Legal Tech Lab Cologne since December 2025, contributing to the monthly newsletter and supporting the blog team. But until now, everything happened online. The Legal Operations Academy 2026 was my first event on-site and let’s just say: it didn’t feel like a typical legal event.
So, what is the Legal Operations Academy?
The Legal Operations Academy took place for the second time this year, organised in cooperation with EY and Deutsche Telekom. The idea is simple: give people a practical entry point into Legal Operations. And by practical, they actually mean it. The whole thing is built as a 1.5-day simulation. No endless presentations, no passive listening, just working, discussing, figuring things out.
The participants came from all kinds of backgrounds, from students to fully qualified lawyers. Which made it immediately clear: this wasn’t about who knows the most law.
Day 1: A quick intro and straight into the deep end
We started with an input session on contracting. Familiar territory at first, but with a clear shift in focus: less legal doctrine, more processes and structures. And then things moved quickly.
Our task: develop an AI strategy for a fictional company.
Sounds manageable, until you realise you don’t really know where to start.
None of us had real experience in Legal Operations. So the first step wasn’t strategy. It was orientation. What processes exist? Where are the inefficiencies? What data is even available? And where can AI realistically add value without creating new risks? The first working phase felt like structured chaos. But that was kind of the point.
Day 2: When things finally start to make sense
Day two kicked off with a session on problem solving. Going into the second working phase, something had shifted. The discussions were more focused, decisions came easier, and the different pieces slowly started to fit together. What felt abstract on day one began to look like an actual strategy.
The final input on transformation and change added one important layer: even the best solution is useless if implementation fails. (A slightly uncomfortable truth, but a necessary one.)
After one last round of work, it was time for the presentations. Each team had approached the problem differently, but all of them managed to come up with something surprisingly solid.
What really stuck with me
What I’ll probably remember most isn’t a specific framework or concept, it’s the way we worked together. Our team was a mix of completely different backgrounds and experience levels. And still, within a very short time, we managed to build something that actually made sense.
That’s not something you learn from textbooks. There was also enough time to talk to other participants and coaches. And on a personal note: it was just really nice to finally meet other Legal Tech Lab members in real life.
Legal Operations feels… different
If I had to sum it up in one sentence: Legal Operations is less about knowing more law and more about making law work better.
It’s about processes, efficiency, communication, and implementation.
What surprised me most was the mindset. People are open, willing to share, and genuinely interested in improving how things are done. For a field that sits within the legal world, that’s… not something you take for granted.
Final Thoughts
I’m leaving these 1.5 days with a lot of new impressions and a much better understanding of what Legal Operations actually is. It’s not just a trend or a buzzword. It’s something that is becoming part of how legal work is done.
And honestly, it feels like something you don’t want to ignore for too long.
A big thank you to the Legal Tech Lab Cologne for organising the event, and to the coaches from EY and Deutsche Telekom for guiding us through it.
Definitely worth it. And definitely not my last deep dive into Legal Operations.
A more detailed article on Legal Operations itself is coming soon.
Stay curious, stay informed, and let´s keep exploring the fascinating world of AI together.
