Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Aaron Street, the co-founder and CEO of Lawyerist.com, one of the largest online communities of small firm lawyers. He is a co-host of the weekly Lawyerist Podcast and is the co-author of The Small Firm Roadmap. We discussed the growth of Lawyerist, the challenges that solo practitioners and small firm lawyers faced from the pandemic, solutions for that community, and Lawyerist’s strategic investment in The Law Practice Exchange.

I spoke with Steve Harber, the executive chairman, and Charles Post, the executive vice president, at Compliance, an integrated e-discovery and contract analytics provider. We discussed aligning e-discovery and contract analytics, the synergies in leveraging AI to empower that combination, and how legal teams can take advantage of new technology to address longstanding challenges.

I spoke with Chris Cartrett, an executive vice president at Aderant, a global business management software provider for law firms. We discussed the company’s Business of Law and Legal Technology Survey, the tools that proved most valuable to law firms in the past year, the elements of virtual events that will endure, and how law firm technology will evolve in a hybrid workplace.

I spoke with Greg Wildisen, the co-founder and head of technology for Panoram Digital, an enterprise legal technology consulting firm based in the U.K. We discussed the challenges to which legal teams are most commonly applying technology, best practices for selecting the right tool for a given matter, the impact of Microsoft 365, and how legal departments are evolving.

I spoke with Ian Nelson, the co-founder of Hotshot, a leading provider of digital learning programs for lawyers. We discussed how short videos and interactive applications help lawyers practice, the aspects of remote learning the company emphasized during the pandemic, and how professional development will evolve in 2021.

I spoke with Tjeerd Van Ginkel, the founder of Innovatie Meester and an Amsterdam-based freelance innovation manager, who helps law firms and legal departments innovate. He is the former head of innovation at De Brauw, one of the largest law firms in the Netherlands. We discussed how law firms and legal departments should approach innovation, mistakes some are making, and client-facing innovation that makes a difference.

I spoke with Bonnie Beuth, the Information Systems Trainer for Ford Harrison, and Rachel Baiden, the Global Technology Training Manager at Squire Patton Boggs, who are two of the founding members of the Legal Technology Core Competency Certification Coalition – LTC4, which is a non-profit consortium of law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and attorneys from around the world that have established industry-standard core competencies for legal technology. We discussed how the LTC4 has evolved over the past decade, what distinguishes its learning plan format, lawyer technological competency requirements, and how the LTC4 distinguishes its certification.

I spoke with Tom Obermaier, the CEO of SurePoint Technologies, a provider of financial and practice management software to law firms nationwide. We discussed how SurePoint has evolved under his leadership, the company’s investment from Aquiline Capital Partners, negotiating the transaction virtually, ways that sophisticated investors support the management of legal technology companies, rebranding, and where legal tech is headed.

I spoke with Susan Duncan, a law firm management consultant, who helps firms and lawyers develop more business through client service and loyalty programs, She is also the author of Building Enduring Client Loyalty: A Guide for Lawyers and Their Firms. We discussed how she defines client loyalty, the challenges to earning it, and strategies for solidifying stronger relationships with clients in a post-pandemic environment.

I spoke with Niko Jakobsson, the Secretary General of the Finnish Bar Association in Helsinki, Finland. We discussed how the Finnish Bar Association empowers its members through technology, ways that lawyers in Finland are using technology, the pandemic’s impact on the work of the Finnish Bar Association, and the different skills required to lead a bar association.