The procurement-legal relationship: The collaboration gap

Procurement and Legal generally describe their working relationship as collaborative. Yet the findings reveal a gap between day-to-day cooperation and the value they could create together.

The main fault lines are decision-making authority and timing: who can agree commercial terms, and when Legal becomes involved. Legal emerges as the more strained and self-critical function, challenging the familiar gatekeeper narrative. Separate procurement and legal systems compound the problem by keeping the data needed for early, informed decisions out of reach.

A cycle sustains the gap. Procurement has little authority over core terms, so has less incentive to build expertise; Legal sees that lack of expertise as a reason to retain control. Trust and timing cannot improve without changing this model. The report explores how clearer roles, integrated technology and connected data can bring both functions into commercial decisions earlier and help them create more value.

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