Pioneers and Pathfinders

This week, we speak with Anusia Gillespie, Chief Strategy Officer at SkillBurst Interactive, a company providing on-demand learning to Am Law 200 firms, global legal organizations, and public-sector agencies, among other clients. Anusia has both an MBA and JD from Boston College, and has worked in various functions throughout the legal ecosystem—law firm practice, academia at Harvard Law School Executive Education, law firm business as the first Head of Innovation at Eversheds Sutherland, and in-house service transformation at the law company UnitedLex. At SkillBurst Interactive, Anusia is responsible for the expansion of digital training and upskilling in order to help the global legal industry thrive as technology continues to evolve. Additionally, Anusia has received the Fastcase 50 Award for being a visionary and an influencer in the legal industry. Today, Anusia discusses making the decision to pursue business, the benefits of not having a defined job description, the common thread of her career, and how law firms should approach talent development.

Today we are joined by Mary O'Carroll, a true pioneer and pathfinder in the legal industry. Mary is Chief Community Officer at Ironclad, a leading contract lifecycle management program for innovative companies. She started her career in business development and consulting before joining Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in a finance role. Her work soon transitioned into a legal operations role—a function that was practically nonexistent in law firms at the time. Mary was later hired by Google, where she built and managed the operations of the legal department as the Director of Operations, Technology, and Strategy. While at the company, she co-founded the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), a global community dedicated to transforming the business and practice of law. Mary continues her mission to drive change in the legal industry. She is a frequent public speaker and media contributor, and she hosts the Ironclad podcast Pearls On, Gloves Off. In our wide-ranging discussion, Mary tells us about her unexpected entry into the legal field, the origin story of CLOC, how generative AI may change legal ops, and what excites her about joining Ironclad.

For our last episode of the year, we welcome Dr. Ron Dolin, chief innovation officer at ODR.com. Dr. Dolin has had a fascinating and dynamic professional journey. A math and physics major, he began his career at the high-energy physics lab CERN in Geneva. He went on to earn a PhD in computer science and became one of the first 100 employees at Google, where he worked for several years. Having a deep interest in morality and ethics, Dr. Dolin then decided to go to law school and pursue the legal path. He became a law professor and has taught legal tech courses at Stanford, Notre Dame, and Harvard. Today, Dr. Dolin works with ODR.com to understand how AI can help the dispute resolution field improve its quality of services. In addition, he is a private investor in legal tech startups. In our discussion, Dr. Dolin speaks about going from Google to law, his love for teaching, the importance of quality metrics as lawyers use generative AI, and his work at ODR.com.

This year, our virtual roundtable series has explored the implications of generative AI and natural language processing models in the legal industry. Our first roundtable covered the risks and benefits of generative AI, while the second addressed the AI technology landscape and implementation strategies. Now, in our third installment, our esteemed panel—Lorie Almon, Chair and Partner of Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Anusia Gillespie, Chief Strategy Officer at SkillBurst Interactive; Jennifer Leonard, Founder of Creative Lawyers and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; and Andrew Perlman, Dean and Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School—focused on lawyer formation and attorney development in the age of artificial intelligence. Our panelists explored how law schools, law firms, and corporate legal departments can shape the lawyers of tomorrow. We discussed the importance of teaching empathy in law school, the impact of generative AI on task-based learning, training more experienced lawyers on new technology, as well as the incentives and training structures needed for all legal professionals in a different environment.

Damien Riehl, Vice President and Solutions Champion at vLex, discusses vLex's new product Vincent AI, crafting arguments using real cases, confidentiality concerns in AI training, the importance of common tagging methodology, and the 'All the Music' project that generated billions of melodies to protect against copyright infringement.

Julie Saltman, Co-founder and CEO at Standd, talks about how AI helps lawyers save time in due diligence, the lessons she learned with the launch of the company, and the impact of generative AI on legal writing.

As technology has progressed, we have also seen emerging concerns for freedom of speech and privacy. Our guest today has spent the past 30 years defending individual liberties in the digital space. Cindy Cohn is the executive director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading nonprofit organization ensuring that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people. She started her career as a civil litigator in private practice, where she handled various cases related to technology. Then, in 1993, the EFF offered her the opportunity to serve as outside lead attorney in the case Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the US export restrictions on cryptography. Today, she handles legal matters involving NSA spying, platform censorship, and surveillance technologies, among other issues. Cindy has received numerous awards and honors for her work. In 2020, she was included in The Nonprofit Times Power and Influence Top 50 list, honoring movers and shakers. In today’s discussion, Cindy talks about the fascinating origins of the EFF, how she became involved in human rights work, how her practice has evolved over the years, and her strategies for protecting people's privacy.

Today we speak with Tara Cheever, co-founder and Chief Products Officer at LIT SOFTWARE, a company that equips lawyers with the tools to modernize their practices and enhance their presentation skills in court. Tara has been a trial presentation consultant for more than 15 years. She is an expert in presentation and legal technology, and has worked on multiple high-profile matters both in the US and in Europe. At LIT SOFTWARE, she assists in the design, development, and marketing of the LIT SUITE. The LIT SUITE apps are used extensively by a broad range of legal professionals and organizations, including Am Law 100 firms, corporate counsel for Fortune 500 companies, and the US Department of Justice, as well as other government agencies. The LIT SUITE is also widely taught in law schools across the US. In our discussion, Tara talks about her work as a trial consultant, how LIT SOFTWARE helps with storytelling in the courtroom, her thoughts on the future of litigation technology, and why she loves working with lawyers.

Stephanie Wilkins, editor-in-chief at Legaltech News, shares her journey from private practice to freelance writing and discusses the future of generative AI in the legal industry. They also explore the impact of technology on delivering legal services, advancements in document review, and the publication's interest in highlighting innovations and startups in the access to justice space.

Today’s guest is taking on the challenges of immigration law through innovative technology. Amélie Vavrovsky is the founder and CEO of Formally, a legal tech startup that uses accessible design to simplify and streamline immigration applications. The idea for the company was partly inspired by Amélie’s own immigration experience as an international student at Brown University. She started Formally as a hackathon project, geared toward helping refugees and asylum seekers immigrate into the US. While a grad student at Stanford, Amélie further developed Formally, and the company officially launched in November of 2021. In recognition of the important work she is doing at Formally, Amélie was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list earlier this year. In our conversation, Amélie discusses competing in hackathons, the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration, Formally's approach to making legal work easier, and her surprising reaction to being included in the 30 Under 30.