Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Chris Stock, the CEO of PCLaw | Time Matters and a member of LEAP’s board of directors as he is the former CEO of LEAP USA. We discussed the key challenges that law firms are facing today, how law firms are adapting to the pandemic, advice for law firms that are struggling now, how the pandemic has affected legal technology generally, and the changes to the profession that will outlast the pandemic.

I spoke with Dean Sappey, the president and co-founder of DocsCorp, a software company that develops a range of document productivity and security tools for law firms. We discussed how the pandemic has impacted technology preferences in legal, which changes will remain permanent, DocsCorp’s acquisition of Verowave Technologies, and ways that productivity is shifting as a result of the virtual/work-from-home climate.

I spoke with Scott Mozarsky, a managing director with JEGI, a middle-market investment bank, who is leading the firm’s legal and compliance practice. We discussed the strength of the legal market, the enthusiasm for legal technology, what investors are looking for in legal, and where legal is headed.

I am speaking today with Rob Feigenbaum, the co-founder and CEO of Prevail Legal, a testimony management platform. We discussed the genesis of Prevail Legal, the appeal of the court reporting sector, the difference between using a trained court reporter and a testimony management platform to capture the record, and the impact of the pandemic on how professionals view remote reporting.

I spoke with Matt Mahon, the National Manager for Information Governance and eDiscovery Sales at Ricoh. We discussed the workplace communications challenges that e-discovery and information governance practitioners are facing, whether professional communication has become more casual in this remote and work-from-home environment, and the challenges associated with interpreting emojis.

I spoke with Robert Gray, the CEO of Legality Software, a subsidiary of Matters in Motion and a provider of custom-development solutions and other technology for legal professionals. We discussed the genesis of Legality Software, how the challenges of running a law firm changed, ways that the pandemic has forced the legal marketplace to change, and the benefits of the One Step Workspace.

I spoke with Katherine Porter, an executive coach for female attorneys and the founder of the Transition Navigator. We discussed how design thinking can enhance a professional’s work, its relationship to the practice of law, the advantages of incorporating a designer’s mindset to client service in legal, ways to overcome the barriers to using design thinking to improve law firm operations, and how it can help law firms through this period of uncertainty.

I spoke with Adrian Camara, the CEO of Athennian, a developer of legal entity management software. We discussed who uses legal entity management software, what the focus on legal entity management indicates about the changing nature of legal services, and the challenges associated with raising capital in the current environment.

I spoke with Phil Anthony, Ph.D., division president at DecisionQuest, a U.S. Legal Support company. We discussed how the pandemic has changed trial consulting, ways to adapt in-person litigation to a virtual environment, how legal professionals are approaching virtual depositions and trials, and reactions from jurors to COVID-19.

I spoke with Johannes Stiehler, the CEO of ayfie Group, an Oslo-based company that provides technology for collecting and processing data from different silos using linguistic technology. We discussed the company’s mission, how the appeal of linguistic technology at law firms and corporate legal departments has evolved, and ayfie’s listing on the Merkur Market in Oslo in July of 2020.