Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Erik Lindberg and Tonya Custis, the senior director for Westlaw Product Management and the senior director of Research at Thomson Reuters, respectively. We discussed the genesis of Westlaw Edge, how it differs from Westlaw, how its artificial intelligence technology differs from other tools on the market, the evolution of Westlaw, and where legal research is headed.

I spoke with Ketan Jhaveri and John Maloney, the co-CEO and Head of Client Success, respectively, at Bodhala, a legal data analytics company. We discussed the genesis of Bodhala, how its clients are using data analytics, who makes the decision to leverage legal data analytics within a corporate law department, the factors driving the use of data in large corporations, and where the legal industry is headed in 2019.

I spoke with Christina Hammond and Joe Hammond, the co-founders of Producify, a digital content production company. We discussed the genesis of Producify, the mistakes that legal professionals are making in showcasing their services with video, quick ways that marketing leaders can upgrade their firm’s videos, whether high-quality video requires professional equipment, and how this type of marketing is evolving.

I spoke with Gabe Teninbaum, a professor at Suffolk University Law School and the Director of the Institute on Legal Innovation & Technology. We discussed Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT) lab, Spaced Repetition Systems, why law schools are incorporating initiatives like the LIT lab, essential skills that current law students must have, and how law schools will be changing in the next few years.

I spoke with Wendy Curtis (named the Most Innovative Lawyer of 2018 by the Financial Times), Kate Orr, and Daryl Shetterly, the Chief Innovation Officer, the Senior Innovation Counsel, and the Director of Orrick Analytics, respectively, for Orrick, a global law firm, which the Financial Times named North America’s Most Innovative Law Firm for the third consecutive year. We discussed the alignment of Orrick’s new legal tech investment initiative with the firm’s core business, why innovation has taken a more central role in law firm operations in the past year, the impact of Orrick Analytics on the firm’s innovation roadmap, how firms can coordinate their various innovation initiatives under a single effort, best practices for creating a culture of innovation at a large global organization, ways to build multi-disciplinary teams to execute on a unified vision, and how the era of law firm innovation is evolving.

I spoke with André König, the managing partner for professional services at BusyLamp, a corporate legal operations SaaS solution for billing, matter management, and sourcing. We discussed ways that in-house legal operations teams can benefit from artificial intelligence, the maturity level of blockchain in legal departments and law firms, the common use cases for AI and blockchain in the legal community, and how prospective users can get started.

I spoke with Keith Laska, a board member for Hanzo, a software provider that captures and preserves dynamic web content to help organizations meet compliance requirements, mitigate risk, and simplify e-discovery. We discussed the biggest challenges corporations are facing today in compliance, risk management, and e-discovery, what makes the diversity of communication so difficult to monitor and manage from a legal perspective, how companies can more effectively address e-discovery and compliance challenges surrounding the use of Slack, and how e-discovery is evolving in light of the changes in how professionals communicate.

I spoke with Sacha Kirk, the co-founder and chief marketing officer for Lawcadia, an Australian software company that helps in-house legal teams manage their outside counsel relationships, including selection, budgeting, and spend. We discussed the genesis of Lawcadia, why it is necessary for in-house legal teams to leverage technology to manage their outside counsel, the associated challenges, the best practices for marketing a legal tech start-up on a global scale, and where the Australian legal tech sector is headed.

I spoke with Steve Gluckman, the founder and CEO of LawFirmElearning, a provider of customized on-demand learning for the legal industry. Steve is the co-author of E-Learning for Law Firms (American Bar Association, 2006) and a former senior fellow with Harvard University’s Center for Business and Government. We discussed the genesis of LawFirmElearning, how on-demand learning has changed across the legal industry, ways that law firms can leverage e-learning technologies, the challenges associated with doing so and where on-demand learning is headed.

I spoke with Sabina Horgan, the vice president of market development for Thread Legal, a practice management software provider based in Dublin. We discussed the genesis of Thread Legal, how small and mid-sized law firms can leverage technology to gain a competitive advantage, and the state of legal tech in Ireland.