Customer Snapshot

Company: Columbia Sportswear Company
Company description: Columbia Sportswear Company is a global leader in the design, sourcing, marketing, and distribution of outdoor and active lifestyle apparel. Its family of brands includes Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear, and prAna, all supported by a single in-house legal team.
Legal team size: Under 20 in-house legal professionals supporting the business worldwide
Industry/vertical: Outdoor apparel and equipment

Background

Columbia’s in-house legal team supports a large, global business with a relatively small number of attorneys. While individual lawyers have areas of specialization, the size of the team requires everyone to operate as a generalist at times.

Melissa describes the core difference between in-house practice and private practice as one of focus. In-house lawyers must prioritize key business risks and explain them clearly so business leaders can make informed decisions. Supporting the business means accepting that risk is part of growth and helping teams navigate it thoughtfully rather than attempting to eliminate it entirely.

With a team made up largely of long-tenured, seasoned attorneys and limited ability to add headcount, Columbia Legal faces a familiar challenge. There is more work than the team can reasonably complete, and senior attorneys often spend time on lower-risk tasks that could otherwise be handled by junior lawyers or paralegals.

The Challenge

The primary challenge for Columbia Legal was capacity. The team needed to support a growing, global business while managing workload constraints and pressure to reduce spend. Attorneys regularly field questions outside their primary areas of expertise and handle routine research, drafting, and issue spotting that pulls time away from higher-value work.

Melissa also wanted a tool that fit the in-house mindset. That meant focusing on practical risk assessment, relying on trustworthy legal sources, and producing output that could be reviewed quickly and confidently by experienced attorneys.

The Solution

Melissa was introduced to GC AI during an early demo and trial in the summer of 2024 through an In-House Connect webinar. While Columbia initially encouraged use of another tool, the legal team revisited generative AI tools in early 2025 when asked to identify ways to improve efficiency and reduce spend.

After trialing GC AI with a broader group of Columbia attorneys, adoption was straightforward. According to Melissa, the product largely sold itself once attorneys saw what it could do.

Supporting Generalist Work

GC AI helps Columbia attorneys handle legal questions outside their immediate expertise more efficiently. It enables faster research and more structured responses, allowing attorneys to process a higher volume of requests without sacrificing quality.

Melissa describes GC AI as particularly useful for low-risk, lower-complexity tasks that would typically be handled by junior attorneys. By accelerating that work, senior attorneys can focus more time on complex issues and strategic initiatives that directly support the company’s growth.

Faster Research and Drafting

GC AI is also used as a research and drafting partner. Melissa relies on it to prepare for meetings, research unfamiliar issues, and overcome writer’s block when responding to business partners or synthesizing information from multiple documents.

Two features stand out. Easy Prompt allows her to start with unstructured questions and quickly generate a clear, comprehensive prompt without slowing down her workflow. She also values GC AI’s use of a preferred hierarchy of legal sources, including statutes, government materials, and reputable law firm content, which aligns with attorneys’ obligation to validate the reliability of their work.

The Results

Since adopting GC AI, Melissa reports meaningful gains in speed and efficiency. Tasks that previously required significant effort now move more quickly, allowing her to work through a larger volume of requests with confidence.

The time saved through GC AI has also changed how Melissa allocates her attention. She is spending more time staying current on new regulations and emerging technologies, particularly in the privacy and AI areas she supports. This has helped her anticipate risks earlier and be more proactive in advising the business.

GC AI has also proven valuable for responding quickly to time-sensitive requests. In one example from the legal team, an attorney was asked to draft a liability release waiver for an influencer event in a remote location.The event raised a range of risk and legal considerations related to transportation, outdoor activities, image use, publication rights, and state-specific requirements in a jurisdiction where the company does not typically operate. The team’s existing waiver did not adequately address these issues, and the request came from marketing with less than a day to deliver. GC AI helped quickly identify the key risks and applicable laws, and provided draft language that served as a foundation for a new form. Within hours, the attorney delivered a document that was more comprehensive and robust than would have been possible within that timeframe otherwise.

Reflecting on GC AI’s role, Melissa describes it as a powerful tool in the hands of a seasoned legal professional, helping Columbia’s legal team extend its capacity without adding headcount.