Why procurement and legal should form a tight connection

Lennon and McCartney. Batman and Robin. Sonny and Cher. Procurement and legal.

It may sound like a stretch. But that was the comparison procurement expert and Procure Bites author Tom Mills drew to explain how critical a productive working relationship is between those two departments.

Mills joined Mathew Schulz—two of the leading voices in procurement—and Ironclad Head of Commercial Legal Laura Garcia for a candid conversation on how procurement and legal can team up to share insights, drive the business forward, and dispel any perceptions of these teams as organizational blockers. Read on for key takeaways from Untapped Value: The Synergy Between Procurement and Legal, but be sure to watch the full webinar below.

Why legal + procurement = a power duo

Procurement and legal may not seem like the most natural pair, but their roles actually have a lot in common. The two functions share big-picture objectives: protect the company from key risks and make sure these agreements deliver real value to the business.

“We're here to protect the business,” Mills said. “And by protect, I don't mean that in a kind of policing way but in terms of protecting the future of the business, being able to drive revenue, being able to set the foundations for future success.”

Procurement might look at contracts through a commercial lens—costs, terms, renewals. Legal, meanwhile, handles the technicalities—liability, remedies, compliance. But both are solving the same problem from different angles.

3 tips for procurement and legal to become value creators

So if you’re in a legal or purchasing role, how can you work together better? Let's dive in:

1. Collaborate early

Procurement and legal teams have traditionally operated in silos, but Mills emphasized that collaboration should start at the earliest stages of decision-making to avoid headaches later. If you’re starting a new role, get to work building that relationship with legal right away.

"The moment you get visibility into a project or you're involved in a project, just bring in legal,” Mills said.

Collaborating from the start will also help set a clear division of responsibilities to prevent confusion later. Who handles commercial terms? Who owns legal review? Who talks to the vendor?

2. Set up recurring meetings

Both Mills and Garcia recommended weekly or monthly check-ins between procurement and legal. These aren’t just status updates but real opportunities to collaborate. Garcia said her call acts as an opportunity to regularly review what’s working well and what could be improved.

The different perspectives and expertise these two groups bring to these conversations can also be mutually beneficial.

“Even if you look at it from a pure planning point of view, very often procurement teams will have visibility of projects or things that might be coming up that the legal team wasn’t perhaps aware of,” Mills said. “We can almost help manage the workflows.”

3. Prioritize stakeholder communication

A few years back, the sales team asked Mills to take a “quick look” at a new sales tool they hoped to adopt quickly because it showed potential to meaningfully lift revenue. But Mills, in partnership with legal, soon discovered that the solution posed major cybersecurity threats. His company had dodged a bullet.

But it was then up to Mills to clearly explain to sales why adopting this tool would be a bad choice for the business. This is the internal “PR” and stakeholder education it takes to prevent legal and procurement from being seen as gatekeepers.

Technology can also provide valuable transparency. Garcia noted that with Ironclad, “You can really see where in the process or who's holding up the contract and what the issues are.”

Tune in for more tips

For more tips on how procurement pros can rebrand themselves internally as business enablers, the role of procurement and legal in setting AI policy, and how to justify your first procurement hire, tune in to the webinar above!