Pioneers and Pathfinders
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Pioneers and Pathfinders is a podcast about the people driving change in the legal industry. Interviews will focus on how their unique journeys inform their thinking about the profession, the business of law, the solutions they create, and where the industry is going next. The podcast will feature guests with multiple backgrounds and perspectives drawn from a number of areas including talent, technology, diversity and inclusion, social justice, education, training, and the business of law. The host of Pioneers and Pathfinders is J. Stephen Poor, chair emeritus of Seyfarth Shaw. During his 15 year tenure as chair and managing partner, the firm pioneered the application of Lean Six Sigma in legal service delivery. Today, he co-leads Seyfarth Labs, the firm’s technology research and development team and continues to serve as an advisor to firm leadership and as executive sponsor of strategic initiatives focused on innovation and growth. Steve brings his own experience as a legal industry pioneer to these conversations, resulting in insights that are both fascinating and instructive.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 9, 2021 • 39min
Bruce MacEwen and Janet Stanton
Bruce MacEwen and Janet Stanton are president and partner, respectively, of Adam Smith, Esq., a consultancy serving law firms and a long-running blog on the economics of law firms. They combine their wealth of experience in economics, business, and law to help firms better prepare for tomorrow. After not knowing what to expect going into the pandemic, Bruce and Janet have found their business booming over the last year, as firms grappled with the fallout and people adapted to a new way of working. Join us for a discussion about how 2020 differs from the economic consequences of the 2008 recession, the potential impact from the “Cambrian explosion” of the pandemic, and what big firms offer that clients are willing to pay top dollar for.
Jun 2, 2021 • 34min
Michele DeStefano
Today, our guest is Michele DeStefano, a professor; author; speaker; and independent consultant on innovation, technology, culture, and cross-practice, cross-border initiatives. Before entering the legal ecosphere, she had a career in advertising and marketing for some ubiquitous brand names. Michele brings that experience to her work with lawyers and legal teams, helping them to identify problems, design solutions, and use storytelling for buy-in and adoption. Listen in to our conversation to learn why Michele thinks lawyers should go to marketing school, why getting everyone on the same problem plane is so critical to innovation efforts, and to hear about the unique work she is doing with Law Without Walls and the Digital Legal Exchange.
May 26, 2021 • 41min
Mark Cohen
Today’s guest is Mark Cohen, a pioneer in every sense of the word. He is the CEO of Legal Mosaic, a legal business consultancy that provides strategic advice to corporate legal departments, law firms, legal service providers, legal networks, entrepreneurs, and law schools. He is a co-Founder and Executive Chairman of The Digital Legal Exchange, a unique, global, not-for-profit organization created to teach, apply, and scale digital principles to the legal function. Mark is passionate about modernizing legal education/training and bridging the gap between the Academy and the marketplace. He has been a regular contributor to Forbes, writing on the global legal marketplace. Mark was also a founder of Clearspire, one of the first virtual law firms. Join Steve and Mark for a fascinating conversation about how the digital legal transformation is upon the profession and how we can teach business concepts to a new generation of lawyers.
May 19, 2021 • 43min
Larry Richard
Dr. Larry Richard is the founder of LawyerBrain, a management consulting firm that helps law firms address issues related to leadership, motivation, talent management, and managing change. Dr. Richard was among the first to apply the scientific principles of human behavior to the personality traits of lawyers. His work validates what those in the legal industry already know intuitively. Lawyers are highly autonomous, skeptical, and analytical—traits that frequently pose a barrier to innovation efforts. On the flip side, his work opens the door for new ways for lawyers to build resilience, empathy, and social connection—necessary traits for dealing with the large-scale changes set in motion by the pandemic. In today’s fascinating conversation, Steve and Dr. Richard discuss how lawyers fared over the last year of lockdown, and what new ways of working and thinking we can expect to stay with us into the future.
May 12, 2021 • 35min
Christian Lang
Christian Lang loved being a lawyer. But after several years of practice, he could not resist the lure of legal tech as a source of community and continuous improvement for the profession. This led to his creation of the NY Legal Tech Meetup which now has more than 1500 members. Today, Christian is Head of Strategy at Reynan Court, a marketplace for legal technology. In that role, he brings his talent for community building to the application vendors, firms, and in-house departments that use the Reynen Court platform. Join us for a wide ranging conversation that covers his early days on political campaigns, to corporate big law, and finally his current stint in legal tech. Learn how Christian brings his passion for grassroots organizing and self-described “builder personality” to everything he does.
May 12, 2021 • 35min
Alex Su
Alex Su is a lawyer turned legal technologist whose non-traditional career path has been shaped by his talent for building community. In fact, since we recorded this interview, Alex has moved into a new role with Ironclad as their Head of Community Development. We couldn’t think of a better title for someone whose social media posts get people talking to each other. Through his transparency, humor, and vulnerability, Alex has been able to shed light on many of the “wicked problems” facing the legal ecosphere - and inspire others to join him on TikTok. Listen in as we discuss what he calls the “failed experiments” that shaped his path, the self-awareness required to leave big law, and why not being detail oriented isn’t the end of the world.
May 5, 2021 • 37min
Jae Um
Today’s guest is Jae Um. Jae runs a market insights company called Six Parsecs, and serves as an advisor to a number of legal tech companies as a self-described “supertemp.” Prior to unbundling her career, Jae spent many years in Big Law, including a six year stint at Seyfarth. Since launching her company, Jae has become well-known in the industry for her sharp insights, and unique approach to visual storytelling. Listen in to today’s podcast to learn how and why she picked the companies she is working with today, why she decided not to become a lawyer, and the unique advantages that insurgent providers are bringing to the legal landscape.
Apr 28, 2021 • 49min
Cat Moon
Like many of those changing the industry, Cat Moon has a long and multilayered CV. She’s a lawyer. She’s a lecturer at Vanderbilt. She’s a writer and speaker. She’s an organizer. But getting to know Cat in conversation reveals a unique point-of-view that no traditional CV can capture. In a wide ranging discussion that moves from how Cat navigated teaching during the pandemic, to the work she’s doing with Design Your Delta, this self-described “curious lawyer” shares her thoughts on how empathy will change the shape of the profession, and why we need to think beyond the client in the delivery of services.
Apr 21, 2021 • 53min
Susan Hackett
After three decades of working at the intersection of law and business, today’s guest almost needs no introduction. Susan Hackett is currently the CEO of Legal Executive Leadership, LLC, and has had a wide ranging career as senior vice president and general counsel of the ACC for more than 20 years. While at the ACC, she presided over the creation of the Value Challenge to recognize the in-house teams and outside counsel who are driving value in legal spending, in addition to strategic initiatives in legal operations, pro bono, and diversity. Today, Susan is part of a number entrepreneurial pursuits focused on the improvement of the legal profession. Listen in for how this self-described “extrovert” stays stimulated and energetic, insights from her many years of navigating the unique mindset of lawyers, and the launch of a brand new learning channel for in-house leaders.
Apr 14, 2021 • 44min
Jason Barnwell
Today’s Guest is Jason Barnwell, Associate General Counsel, Modern Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs at Microsoft. In that role, he leads innovation efforts for the law department, as well as Microsoft’s law firm engagement strategy. Jason has an active and vocal thought leadership role on the evolution of the profession, bringing his experience as an engineer to his insights. In his conversation with Steve, Jason reveals the three things he brings to his work from his engineering training, the moment he understood the misalignment of big law incentives with efficiency, and the role of storytelling in change management.
