In this episode of Fringe Legal, recorded live from ILTACON 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, Ab sits down with JoeySeeber, CEO of Level Legal. Joey discusses the journey and growth of Level Legal over 15 years, starting during the Great Recession. The conversation delves into various aspects of building a business for longevity, maintaining a startup mindset in a small company, and delivering services in a human-centric way. Joey shares insights on their framework and principles for doing business, client feedback, handling competition, and the role of technology in enhancing efficiency. Read the episode takeaways at: https://www.fringelegal.com/balancing-technology-and-human-connection-in-legal-services-with-joey-seeber

Stefan Ciesla, Co-founder and CEO of Ayora.ai, discusses how Ayora's smart lockup assistant helps fee earners in law firms make revenue management decisions. The assistant scans a firm's data related to matters and provides recommendations on monitoring scope, estimates, budgets, resourcing, and billing. The challenge of balancing AI with human control and building trust in the recommendations is emphasized. Key takeaways: Ayora's assistant helps fee earners improve revenue management skills, prioritizes transparency and user consent, and never takes action without the attorney's knowledge.

Conan Hines, Director of Legal Technology at Fried Frank, discusses the importance of building a tech-enabled culture in law firms. He emphasizes the need for trust, starting small, and balancing short-term impact with long-term goals. The role of vendors and incentives for adoption are also explored. Integrating technology training into legal training and demonstrating the value of technology are key. Having fun, stepping away, and embracing hobbies and perspectives are also highlighted as important aspects of problem-solving in a tech-enabled culture.

Abdi Shayesteh, founder and CEO of AltaClaro, discusses reinventing legal education and training. AltaClaro uses experiential learning techniques to provide associates with hands-on practice. The podcast covers Abdi's early entrepreneurial experiences, issues with traditional law firm training, learning science principles used by AltaClaro, and training trends for law firms in 2023.

Stephanie Corey and Brandi Pack from UpLevel Ops discuss the transformative power of generative AI in legal operations. They explore topics such as early access to GPT-4, growing adoption of AI, the changing landscape of legal teams, GenAI as a workflow tool, and the future possibilities of AI in the legal field.

Jeff Pfeiffer, Chief Product Officer at LexisNexis, discusses legal AI progress, hype versus reality, law firm adoption, and tangible benefits. Topics include navigating the AI hype cycle, enhancing legal workflows with AI, growing law firm interest, avoiding disillusionment, and real-world benefits driving adoption.

In this episode of Fringe Legal, host Abhijat Saraswat interviews Nnamdi Emelifeonwu and Feargus MacDaeid, co-founders of legal tech startup Definely.Key Takeaways:Definely creates software plugins to simplify drafting, reviewing, and analyzing legal contracts in Microsoft Word using AI/ML.The idea originated from Feargus' need as a blind lawyer to access information in documents more easily.They validated demand with a scrappy prototype and early pilots despite its flaws.After leaving law firm jobs, their mission-driven approach focuses on access, efficiency, and transparency.Their blueprint for innovation includes launching an MVP, inclusive design thinking, gathering user feedback, and carefully leveraging AI.Maintaining ethics and reputation is central, not rushing new technology to market.When solving problems for underserved groups, solutions often benefit everyone.A framework for evaluating AI: accuracy and understanding real-world impacts.Connect with Nnamdi EmelifeonwuConnect with Feargus MacDaeidLearn more about Definely

ESG (environmental, social, governance) factors have become essential considerations for companies seeking to manage risk, attract investment, and operate sustainably.Yet myths and misconceptions persist around what ESG is and how best to approach it. This leads many legal teams to view ESG as an amorphous compliance exercise rather than a strategic priority.Recently on the Fringe Legal podcast, Abhijat Saraswat interviewed ESG expert Kai Gray, CEO of advisory firm Motiv, to demystify ESG and offer practical guidance for legal professionals. In this episode, learn what ESG means and how legal teams can pragmatically prioritize it. Get clarity on ESG frameworks, strategic rollout, and avoiding common pitfalls.

Summary:In this insightful episode of Fringe Legal, host Abhijat Saraswat has an in-depth discussion with India Preston, Director of Platform Solutions at legal tech startup Lupl. They delve into India's winding journey into legal project management, tactical approaches to driving adoption, and how to effectively challenge established processes.India shares learnings and advice drawn from her diverse experiences - from helping build out Linklaters' LPM function from the ground up to make the leap to an early-stage legal tech startup. She provides a rare longitudinal view of how legal project management has evolved from a little-known concept in 2013 to a widely recognized, if still poorly understood, discipline today.Key Takeaways:While LPM has gone from barely existing in 2013 to being commonly known today, there is still substantial room for education on how to apply it effectively. LPM principles empower lawyers to run matters like projects, but specialized LPM roles create incremental value on complex matters.Project management qualifications alone don't cut it for legal project managers to be successful. Soft skills to integrate smoothly with lawyers and legal teams are just as important, if not more so. Technical skills can be learned on the job.Identifying concrete problems that need solving is absolutely crucial before adopting any new solution or technology. Without an anchor in specific pain points, adoption will struggle no matter how exciting the new solution seems at first glance.Rollouts of new technology or processes should start small and be targeted before expanding more widely across a firm. The tendency may be to go big with a splashy firmwide launch, but this rarely succeeds.Resources like use case guides, template libraries, and informal user communities help drive adoption by making the novel feel familiar. However, these need to be grounded in solving real firm problems.Process mapping workshops - with the help of an unbiased external facilitator - can challenge status quo thinking and processes in extremely constructive ways. Just asking "why" repeatedly can unearth entrenched inefficiencies.Actionable Takeaway: Start Small Before Going WideExplore in detail at Fringe Legal.

In this episode, our guests Brad Blickstein, David Cambria, and returning guest Keith Maziarek join host Ab to discuss the findings from the 3rd Legal Pricing and Project Management (LPMM) Survey Report. They delve into the key challenges and trends shaping the legal industry, touching upon innovation, technology, client expectations, and the future of legal service delivery. Tune in to explore the data and analysis from the report, as these experts share their perspectives on the current state and future of legal operations.Key discussion points:[00:02:16] The current state of law firm investments in innovation and technology[00:10:45] Contradictions between client expectations and rewarded behaviors[00:18:50] Challenges faced by law firm and legal department executives in adopting process and collaboration improvements[00:27:12] The real threat to law firm success and how to address it[00:34:23] The impact of economic downturns on the legal industry and the potential for future transformationDon't miss this in-depth conversation that offers valuable insights for legal professionals interested in legal tech, legal project management, and legal service delivery.A more in-depth commentary is available on FringeLegal.com