The Legalpreneurs Sandbox

In this podcast, a session in our ReinventED Legal Business: The Case Studies series, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific) chatted with Catherine O'Connell, the Principal and Founder of Catherine O'Connell Law (COCL) in Tokyo, Japan. Catherine hails from New Zealand and, as a foreign lawyer in Japan, leads a boutique law practice that provides flexible legal services to law firms, legal departments and businesses, on a project and needs-specific basis, delivered by bilingual in-house experienced lawyers - a unique legal resource in Japan - areas of focus include: Support for Japanese and foreign law firms in Japan, as well as New Zealand-based law firms Determining how, when and where a full-time, in country legal counsel might best contribute Setting up systems and workflows Localising global templates Introducing general commercial contract governance to business COCL combines bilingual capability and deep in-house counsel experience, to act as the lead on all the in-person and written contract negotiations for client’s BAU and project work. COCL is a multiple award winner in entrepreneurship, excellence and being a trailblazer. COCL also provides an Associates Academy where Japanese in-house legal staff (and law firm associates) can upskill in their English business communication skills. Catherine also recently launched her podcast, Lawyer on Air, focusing on the life and work of women lawyers in Japan. Catherine, thanks so much for an excellent session – love seeing how passion, creativity and pursuing opportunities can lead to thriving legal businesses all around the world! If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

In this session, the Centre for  Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia- Pacific) launched its Young Legalpreneurs Special Interest Group with a panel discussion on “Building the Next Legal Practice – Yes, YOU Can!” The session was facilitated by the Centre’s Executive Director, Terri Mottershead, and brought together six intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs – all of whom are legalpreneurs, who discussed how they have taken their ideas, experiences, different approaches, different mindsets and focussed on what matters most to them and built the next legal practice, their way! Terri was joined by: Elizabeth Aitken, Partner and National Head of Workplace Relations & Safety, SLF Lawyers Sheetal Deo, Principal, Shakti Legal Solutions Tom Dreyfus, CEO and Co-founder, Josef Perveen Maan, Legal Counsel, LOD; Co-Founder & Director, Anika Legal Simon Playford, Lawyer, Law Squared Dennae Smith, Analyst, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Asia, Microsoft Topics discussed included: The differences between traditional and the next legal practice. How the legal marketplace is changing. How early career professionals can identify and pursue opportunities. The importance of knowing your strengths and playing to them. The new, different and emerging capabilities for the next legal practice (and why they matter). How early career professionals can effect change. The next or first step on the path to building your legal practice, your way! Thank you so much Elizabeth, Sheetal, Tom, Perveen, Simon and Dennae for an outstanding and inspiring session!

We’re approaching that point in legal innovation and tech adoption where we can pause, think about the contemporary legal market place, ask and answer some critical questions.  There are few people whose experience in, understanding of, and dedication to legal practice, makes what they have to say important – important because they know what works, what doesn’t, what change needs to happen and why…but more, they’re committed to making “different” work not just to be different but because it’s essential for lawyers to remain relevant…..one of them is Christina Blacklaws, Managing Director, Blacklaws Consulting and former President of the Law Society of England & Wales. In this episode, we discussed how the legal ecosystem is transforming in the UK and why. It’s a jurisdiction where doing legal practice differently has been at the forefront of a change agenda for a decade or more. There’s lessons to learn, reasons to understand, and the benefit of hindsight, as similar transformation takes hold around the world. Topics we discussed included: The work of LawtechUK and the Legal Schema Project in showcasing legaltech and innovation in the UK (and beyond) Who or what is driving the legal change agenda in the UK and why it is different The changing focus, depth and breadth of regulation of legal practices and practitioners The transformation of legal services and products - globally If law schools are doing enough to prepare the next generation of lawyers for contemporary legal practice The role of diversity, equity and inclusion in legal innovation Inspiring from the start to the end - thanks so much, Christina – you do amazing work with amazing dedication and YOU are an amazing human!   Resource: The Technology and Innovation in Legal Services: Final Report for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (2021) referred to in this episode can be found here.

In this podcast, in CLI’s Legal Techy Tuesday Series  Nicola Shaver and Chris Ford, Co-founders at Legaltech Hub discussed global developments in legal technology and provided a demo of the Hub too. Nikki and Chris also shared insights gleaned from undertaking the research underpinning Legaltech Hub which included how to identify regional legaltech maturity, what signs indicate a region is about to boom, how to identify market opportunity and, for buyers, how to fill the capability gaps in legaltech portfolios by using Legaltech Hub. Legaltech Hub launched in October 2020. It provides a means for legal professionals across the world to easily find the legal technology tools that suit their environment. It combines a comprehensive directory of global legal technology with nuanced and powerful search functionality. Legaltech Hub allows users to search across solutions and apply filters for linguistic efficacy, jurisdiction, practice area, and target demographic. In doing this, it provides a resource for corporate in-house departments, mid-small law firms and other entities to find comprehensive lists of all solutions that specifically address their environment, and for regional lawyers to find the tools that will work in their language. Legaltech Hub also seeks to democratize legal technology by providing an equal playing field and side-by-side promotional opportunities for start-ups alongside major industry players, allowing users to discover new solutions each time they perform a search. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

In this podcast, the second episode of seven in CLI’s Digital Literacy Series: Automation Mini Series, Gene Turner, Managing Director at LawHawk and Mark Tyndall, VP, Markets & Growth, APAC at Neota Logic guided us through the process of using automation to create value across your legal business. Topics covered in this episode included: how to look at the full process, and identify the business outcomes that need to be achieved; how legal automation can link multiple processes, extending across and outside the organisation; and the broader range of benefits lawyers can now deliver to their business clients using design and technology. While this episode had particular relevance to in-house legal teams, law firms will also find it helpful in identifying where they can add the most value in this joined-up world. This mini series brings together a unique collaboration of leading legal automation specialists who will address a number of different but related topics in legal automation. You’ll find details about the mini series and upcoming episodes here. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Legal education has come under fire, been going through a transition, and inevitably will end up looking a lot different. Why? Because who, how, where and when legal services and products are delivered has changed and, continues to change, so it stands to reason that the capabilities and profile of the legal workforce needs to be changing too. While legal educators are just one part of the legal ecosystem, they’re potentially a big part of this change agenda but, it’s unlikely this agenda will pick up pace without a compelling case being made for change, or people thinking and doing differently, or educators being willing to lead and challenge the status quo – but, is that possible and/or where is that happening in our law schools (and outside our law schools in Alternative Legal Education Providers) today? To discuss all this within the context of legal education in Canada, we welcomed Aaron Baer, a Partner and the Director of Training and Development at Renno & Co AND the Co-founder of the 4L Academy to the podcast. Aaron has been an proactive thinker and doer in this space for some time and has channelled that into a new way of thinking about and delivering legal education through the 4L Academy. Topics covered in this episode included: The legal education system and process in Canada The changing emphasis in legal education from acquiring only knowledge to combining this with experience as well Who can or should lead legal education transformation How the 4L Academy is creating a new model for conceptualising and learning the business and practice of law Thanks so much for an amazing discussion, Aaron and congrats on leading the way in doing legal education differently!

In this podcast, the first episode of seven in CLI’s Digital Literacy Series: Automation Mini Series, Giles Thompson, Head of Growth at Avvoka and guest presenter Mark Ford, Director of Knowledge & Innovation Strategy at echo.legal guided us through the basics of legal automation. Topics covered in this episode included: What legal automation actually is (and what it isn’t) If and why you should care about it How to tell if you should launch your own automation project What your aims should be if you do embark on your own legal automation journey This mini series brings together a unique collaboration of leading legal automation specialists who will address a number of different but related topics in legal automation. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Orrick is a global leader in innovation in the legal industry and not just at the level of process or system improvement – that’s where we see lots of legal innovation initiatives start and end – at Orrick, they are doing much, much more. They have created new enterprises, products and education opportunities, to name a few things - these collectively point to an innovative culture founded on client centricity, agility, continuous improvement and purpose. We had an amazing conversation about all of this (and lots more) with: Wendy Curtis, Chief Innovation Officer; Kate Orr, Senior Innovation Counsel; and Daryl Shetterly, Director of Orrick Analytics. Topics covered in this session included: What legal innovation is and is not A deep dive into some of Orrick’s innovation initiatives like Orrick Labs;  their tech fund; Orrick Analytics; and The Observatory The importance and use of data in legal practice The importance of multidisciplinary teams and collaboration in innovation and how these are hallmarks of innovative legal practices and critical to them How to create a culture of innovation Whether or not an innovative mindset is a case of nurture or nature Why law firms should feel compelled to innovate Where legal practitioners and practices can start on their innovation and change journeys Thank you so much, Wendy, Kate and Daryl for leading by example and contributing so significantly to creating a new, different and better legal industry!

Bolter is a start-up law firm brought to life by Clifford Gouldson Lawyers and led by Ben Gouldson. In this podcast, a session in our ReinventED Legal Business: The Case Studies series, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific) chatted with Ben about: The variety of solutions and pricing structures the firm offers to help navigate the maze of forms, contracts and questions that new businesses encounter when they are starting out How the Bolter team applies its understanding of the unique challenges of building a start-up or small business from the ground up, to provide a better way for clients to engage with lawyers The advantages and disadvantages of establishing a disruptive business unit or initiative in a law firm If it is possible for work to flow from a more traditional practice to a disruptive business entity and vice versa The importance of experimentation, continuous improvement, listening, an open mindset, encouraging and including different thinking, and being future focused in legal transformation How more traditional law firms can expand the lessons learned from their disruptive businesses to transform all aspects of all businesses Ben, thanks so much for an amazing session – the work you're doing is a fabulous example of innovative legal practice in action! If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

In this session, the Centre for  Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia- Pacific) launched its Women Legalpreneurs Special Interest Group with a panel discussion on “Thinking Like a Founder – Nature or Nurture?” The session was facilitated by the Centre’s Executive Director Terri Mottershead, and brought together seven outstanding women working in the legal ecosystem in Australia. The panellists shared their backgrounds and experience about what it takes to conceive, develop and run a legal business today - the experiments, failures and successes.  They also discussed the importance and power of things like collaboration, empathy, listening, curiosity, resilience, well-being, diversity, inclusion, equity, and the role these play in great decision making and transformative leadership. The panel comprised: Genevieve Collins, Chief Executive Partner, Lander & Rogers Fiona Craig, Founder, Fiona Craig Consulting Sacha Kirk, Co-Founder & CMO, Lawcadia Riz McDonald, Founder and Director, Foundd Legal Schellie-Jayne Price, Inaugural Chair of ACC Legal Technology Committee; Senior Legal Counsel at Chevron Australia Sarah Rey, Founder and Managing Partner, Justitia Lawyers and Consultants Caryn Sandler, Partner + Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer, Gilbert + Tobin Topics discussed included: The meaning of the term “Founder” The importance of recognising and running with business opportunities How to overcome business challenges Separating hype from reality – the real opportunities offered by tech for legal businesses today The importance of networks, relationship building, and strong personal connections in building a business The answer to the question…is it nature or nurture? If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.