Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Corporate Legal Operations Consortium leaders Connie Brenton, the Senior Director of Legal Operations at NetApp, Mary O’Carroll, Head of Legal Operations at Google, Jeff Franke, Assistant General Counsel of Global Legal Operations at Yahoo, and Chris Coats, Vice President of Legal Operations at Oracle. We discussed the genesis of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, why legal operations principles have become so important in modern law department management, what attendees at the 2017 CLOC Institute can expect, how CLOC is evolving, and where the field of legal operations is headed.

I spoke with Steve Couling, the vice president of international at kCura, the developers of Relativity. His team works with corporations, law firms, government agencies, and its channel of Relativity authorized partners in EMEA, Asia Pacific and South America, and produces Relativity Fest in London. We disclosed how the e-disclosure industry has evolved in the UK, the impact of Brexit and GDBR, among others, on that shift, kCura’s decision to bring Relativity Fest to London (registration link), and what attendees can expect at this year’s conference.

I spoke with Lauryn Haake, a managing director for HBR Consulting, a company focused on law firm and law department operations. We discussed the rise of contract lifecycle management (CLM), the most pressing issues in this area, how legal teams can apply CLM, the one thing that teams should focus on if they want to successfully manage their contracts, and where the CLM sector headed. Lauryn will also be speaking at the upcoming Apttus Accelerate conference in San Francisco.

I spoke with David Perla and Sanjay Kamlani, the co-founders of Pangea3, a leading legal industry outsourcing firm that Thomson Reuters acquired in 2010, who have recently established 1991 Group, an advisory business with an investment arm focused on legal, outsourcing/offshoring, and services that assist technology-focused companies. We discussed the genesis of 1991 Group, why there is so much interest in supporting legal technology and services companies, promising areas in the field, what the 1991 Group team looks for in prospective investments, and where the legal industry is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Kiwi Camara and Neil Etheridge, CEO and vice president of marketing, respectively, for DISCO, a cloud-based e-discovery software provider. We discussed the genesis of DISCO, how its technology is influencing the modern practice of law, its business model, and where the e-discovery software sector is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Peter Rouse, an intellectual property lawyer and a serial entrepreneur, who is the founder of the Rouse Firm, an international intellectual property consulting business. Peter is also the author of Every Relationship Matters: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform Your Business, Your Firm, and Yourself, the second edition of which the ABA released last summer.

I spoke with Adam Cohen, an attorney and a managing director with the Berkeley Research Group, a global strategic advisory and expert consulting firm. He is a Certified Ethical Hacker and provides guidance on data governance, compliance, and security, including cybersecurity, digital forensics and electronic discovery. We discussed his role at the Berkeley Research Group, the work he performs as an ethical hacker, his evolution from a law firm partner to a consultant with technical data security certifications, the distinctions between the challenges that in-house lawyers face versus those of their outside counsel, and where data governance is headed.

I spoke with Brett Owens, the founder and CEO of Chrometa, a time keeping software platform for lawyers and other professionals who bill hourly. We discussed the genesis of Chrometa, the difference between timekeeping software and time entry technology, key time capture trends, and where the market is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Phil Homburger, president of LawBase, a leading case and matter management system, and David Rueff, a shareholder and the legal project management officer at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, who oversees the development of the firm’s legal project management solution, BakerManage®, and is on the board of directors of the firm’s subsidiary, LegalShift, which is collaborating with LawBase to bring its technology to the broader market.

I spoke with Mark Noel, the Managing Director of Professional Services for Catalyst, a provider of litigation support software and services.