Fringe Legal

Technology is a frequent topic of conversation. It comes up almost every single episode. And while it's fun to talk about amazing new tools or features, ultimately, you have to tie the tech back to the business strategy. Easy to say, difficult to execute.It's harder still when tracking and working with emerging technology, where there may not yet be a baseline for success. We tackle those points and so much more in the episode today.Episode contentWhat is IncuBaker  ➡ 2.46Watching the market ➡ 4.04Client needs ➡ 5.03Tracking 500+ legal tech companies ➡  6.17Tying tech to business objectives ➡ 7.29A process-driven approach to technology selection ➡ 11.30Working with Vendors ➡ 16.22Working with emerging technologies ➡ 20.31Validating ideas ➡ 23.46Market trends ➡ 32.31For more detailed notes visit www.fringelegal.com

On the podcast this week, I speak to Quddus Pourshafie, co-founder of antiCPD a new training business looking to flip the necessary evil of CPD on its head. They have a bold vision:Essentially, we want it to be the most AntiCPD CPD training you've ever seen. CPD is one of the least favorite activities of any lawyer, right? It's something that must be done, but no one particularly enjoys that period of time. Or if it's spread throughout the year most people tick it off. It's a checkbox item. And now that it's virtual and prerecorded people can freely fall asleep... So that's one aspect that we wanted to completely blow out the water.

In this episode, Ab speaks with Azman Jaafar, Managing Partner and one of the founding members of RHTLaw Asia on how legal technology can drive success in a law firm.This episode is a special segment to the article "How Legal Tech Innovation Can Drive Success in Your Firm" which was published in the Singapore Law Gazette in October 2021.

I don't think we thought that it was going to be as tough of a sell because most of our clients that we have worked with and that we know very well and know how they sell, how they operate, they're all SaaS companies. So they all sell, software as a service, which is a subscription model. And we thought this would be something that, of course, they would understand the benefits of it because they're saying to their customers, here's the benefit of a subscription. It's really hard,  for the legal field to turn that corner because law traditionally has already been 10 steps behind in terms of technology. Compared to even the largest, corporate companies. So law firms are already lagging in that way. And to throw this at in-house counsel,  we were overly optimistic to think that they would swarm to adopt this idea.Joyce Tong Oelrich is the co-founder of the recently launched boutique, Tong Tejani PLLC, specializing in government contracting.Prior to the launch of her practice, Joyce was an in-house attorney at Facebook and Microsoft Corporation for nearly a decade, focusing on government contract compliance.In this episode, we explore why Joyce left to start her own firm, and how she, together with her Partner, created a firm with a difference. Resource mentionedPaul Graham on 'do things that don't scale'

Julia Salasky is the CEO of Legl, a digital workflow tool for law firms. "Solving problems that are fundamental to the way lawyers work enables lawyers to focus on the work that highly skilled professionals that they are can do best. I don't have a view as to whether in five years or ten years or 25 years, you can train AI to do those jobs, but the work that lawyers do is so varied, so technical, and so human-centric that enabling them to do that work in a way that allows them to focus on the highest value piece of that is where there's a real opportunity in this space."

Adolfo E. Jiménez is a Miami litigation attorney whose practice focuses on international disputes. Mr. Jiménez leads Holland & Knight's South Florida Litigation Practice Group, which consists of more than 80 attorneys, and also leads the firm's International Arbitration and Litigation Team. He is Board Certified in International Litigation and Arbitration by The Florida Bar. He handles general commercial litigation matters in federal and state courts. His international experience, language abilities and management skills provide innovative and comprehensive representation to clients involved in complex cases.We've spoken with technologists and innovators during previous podcast episodes, and this week we talk to a practitioner. In the show, we cover:what does a day in the life of Adolfo look likethe impact of virtualization on the arbitration worldbenefits of multiple perspectives and how it can help stay updatedthinking long term, and staying client centricFind out more at the Holland & Knight website and on LinkedIn. 

Anna Lozynski is an award winning executive general counsel & author, turned Change Agent, Advisor and Influencer.   Starting out at a major Australian law firm, she has spent the majority of her legal career in-house working in the banking, automotive, and cosmetics industries. In 2021, Anna has donned her entrepreneurial shoes and launched her own Advisory service, on a mission to help law and business adapt to the digital age. She is consulting in the areas of social media content creation, strategy & partnerships, legal ops/optimisation, change management, as well as coaching and general counsel freelancing.  She believes that innovation is invigorating, change is energising and efficiency will never go out of fashion.   In addition, she is an Advisory Board Member to Mys Tyler (a fashion tech startup), She Breaks The Law (a global female innovator network), and sits on the CLOC (Corporate Legal Operations Consortium) Australia Chapter.     Described as a change agent, Anna is a sought-after commentator, mindset coach and consultant both domestically and internationally – seeking to shift the dialogue in order to propel the corporate world forward.  You are invited to join Anna’s online communities @legallyinnovative and LinkedInas well as @annaloz on Clubhouse. You can also download a variety of products, and read Anna’s blog here: https://annalozynski.com/  

I spoke with Matthew Waldman (Founder, San-Q, and Professor Keio Graduate School of Design) and Ruben Fernandez Vela (Senior Researcher, Samcara research lab) on transformation and innovation lessons from designing next-gen cities.This was a fascinating chat, and much of the ideas we discussed could very easily be extrapolated for firms, in-house teams, indeed any business.Here are three things I took away:Planning for obsolescence and avoiding in-actionBalancing decision making and privacyFostering innovation is simpleOther resources mentioned during the episodeSamcara circular design labSan-Q consultancyProfessor Matthew Waldman on LinkedIn Ruben Vela on LinkedInLaying the foundation for Smart CitiesWhat's fueling the smart city backlash?Carlos Moreno talks about the 15-minute cityBeyond Tech - The True Meaning of a Smart City

So Legal is coming late to the party on some of this, but at least it arrived very well dressed because we get to now pick and choose some of the best parts of project management, change management transformation, continuous improvement.Peter Dombkins is a national leader in legal transformation, legal operations, and the project management of legal professional services. He has received awards from the Financial Times and AIPM for change and legal practice management. Peter is Australia's first Adjunct Associate Professor in Legal Transformation, at the University of NSW Faculty of Law. Peter is also the Director for New Law at PwC Australia.During the episode, we discuss:Is there a revolution coming to the legal profession?A brief history of changes in how professional legal services are offered from 1950 to - present day. Including the trend of appending “legal” in front of many things. What is Legal Project Management, and how most lawyers are are already putting it into practice?What is transformation, and the difference between simple and complex transformation?This episode is a treasure trove of resources. Here are various things that were mentioned or discussed:Peter on LinkedInLegal Project Management: Projectifying the Legal ProfessionWhat's wrong with your transformation initiative? (ILTA Whitepaper)Cognitive Bias CodexExpectancy TheoryYerkes-Dodson LawA reflection on Thomas Kuhn's - The Structure of Scientific Revolution

Mouthpiece Law is a student-run not-for-profit. As the world’s first legal education & technology platform, they connect and empower law students and legal professionals to form a legal aid task force and address legal needs through low-cost legal services.Avinash Pillay is the COO and Chief Legal Engineer at Mouthpiece Law.