Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with John Tredennick, the founder and CEO of Merlin Search Technologies, a developer of cloud-based search applications. We discussed the genesis of Merlin Search Technologies, how his experience as a large law firm partner and CEO of Catalyst has helped shape Merlin’s mission, the matters for which search technology is best suited, how legal technology is evolving beyond legal, and advice for legal tech entrepreneurs.

I spoke with Anthony Davies, the Chief Revenue Officer for Forrest Solutions, an onsite outsourcing, flexible staffing, and alternative legal services provider. We discussed how the move to a hybrid work model has impacted attorney retention, recruitment, and collaboration, the “rise of hospitality” in law firms, and the changing expectations of working in an office.

I spoke with Josh Herman, the vice president for marketing and public relations at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. We discussed what makes the hotel unique, how it shifted its focus during the pandemic, the best time to visit, and what business lessons leaders can learn from how the Fontainebleau Miami Beach has maintained its appeal over many years.

I spoke with members of the board of directors for The Masters Conference, including Rick Clark, its co-founder, and senior director of sales enablement and strategy with CloudNine, Monica Harris, product business manager of enterprise solutions at Cellebrite, and Marla Mohr, manager of client relations at ACEDS, We discussed the return of The Masters Conference, how its 2022 schedule honors the legacy of Robert Childress, who led the conference for many years, what distinguishes this series, and the skills that are necessary for legal professionals to thrive in a post-pandemic environment.

I spoke with Dean Whalen, the chief legal officer for Readback, an artificial intelligence-assisted court reporting platform. We discussed ways to build trust in AI, how states are adapting to changes in court reporting, and how court reporting will evolve.

I spoke with Colin Li, the chief financial officer and chief revenue officer for Paradigm, a suite of practice management solutions for law firms, and Chad Todd, the co-founder of TrustBooks, a legal accounting software platform, which Paradigm recently acquired. We discussed how TrustBooks aligns with Paradigm’s suite of products, ways that it differs from other accounting solutions available to attorneys, and Paradigm’s long-term vision for its technology portfolio.

I spoke with Scott Seidewitz, the CEO of BlissDivorce, a company that leverages dispute resolution technology to streamline divorce proceedings. We discussed how BlissDivorce differs from other online divorce platforms, why a consumer would choose to leverage technology over hiring an attorney, and how legal technology is evolving to support consumers.

I spoke with Stephanie Corey, the co-founder and general partner of UpLevel Ops, a legal strategy and operations consulting firm. She is also the co-founder of the Legal Innovators Network, a new association exclusively for senior legal operations professionals. We discussed the role of technology in driving innovation and efficiency in corporate legal departments, the Legal Innovators Network, and where the field of legal operations is headed.

I spoke with Stephen Dowling, a barrister in Dublin, Ireland, and the founder of Trialview, a software platform designed for litigators to prepare their evidence and present it at trial. We discussed the genesis of Trialview, how it integrates with other legal technology tools, and how technology is reshaping litigation.

I spoke with Marla Crawford, the general counsel at Cimplifi, an integrated legal services provider that aligns e-discovery and contract analytics for corporate legal departments and law firms. We discussed how the delivery of legal services has shifted, Cimplifi’s new market research report, Modern Legal Operations: At the Convergence of Law and Business, and how the role of legal operations professionals is evolving.