Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Nicole Clark, the co-founder and CEO of Trellis, a legal analytics platform that uses AI and machine learning to provide state trial court litigators with strategic legal intelligence and judicial analytics. We discussed what it will take for courts to return to a pre-pandemic level of activity and how the appetite for legal intelligence and judicial analytics is evolving.

I am speaking today with Daniel Gold, the leader of BDO‘s Managed Services practice. We discussed, the top three trends impacting the legal industry in 2020, the challenges and opportunities that legal professionals are likely to face in the next year, the litigation and compliance matters that have arisen in the pandemic, and how BDO’s Athenagy offering addresses them.

I spoke with Ab Saraswat, host of the popular Fringe Legal podcast and the vice president of international sales for Litera Microsystems, a software company that provides document lifecycle and deal management solutions to the legal profession. We discussed how international law firms have fared in the pandemic in comparison to their US counterparts, how knowledge management teams are elevating their influence, and the challenges and opportunities for legal professionals in the remote working environment.

I spoke with Matt Fawcett, the general counsel of NetApp, a Fortune 500 cloud data services and data management company. We discussed the challenges of designing and implementing a new approach to delivering a company’s legal services, ways to build trusted networks virtually, his 10th anniversary as NetApp’s General Counsel, the importance of gratitude, and his advice for thriving in the current environment.

I spoke with Curt Meltzer, the former chief information officer for various large law firms and an evangelist for Litera, a software company that provides document lifecycle and deal management solutions to the legal profession. We discussed why law firms are embracing the paperless office, how they are leveraging technology for digital transformation, and the impact of the remote working environment on software adoption.

I spoke with Terry Dohrman, a co-founder and the Chief Revenue Officer for Litify, the developer of a practice management software platform. We discussed how the case management needs of law firms and legal departments are changing, shifts in the way legal teams are managing their matters in the pandemic, and the catalyst for the company’s collaboration with Assure Disability.

I spoke with Anna McGrane, the chief operating officer and co-founder of PacerPro, a legal software service that improves access to PACER, and Joshua Fireman, the founder of Fireman & Company, a knowledge management and technology consultancy. We discussed Fireman & Co's white paper: Knowledge Management With PacerPro, how the use of PACER data aligns with knowledge management improvements at law firms, and ways that the pandemic has impacted KM initiatives at law firms.

I spoke with Anjie Vichayanonda, the founder of Leg Up Legal, a mentoring program and platform for prospective law students. We discussed the genesis of Leg Up Legal, the Virtual Legal Career Boot Camp, legal career challenges and opportunities, and whether you should enroll in law school this fall.

I spoke with Haley Altman, the global director of business development and strategy for Litera, a document lifecycle software provider. We discussed her transition from law firm partner to legal tech startup founder to senior executive at a software firm that acquired her company, Litera’s acquisition strategy, how the remote working environment has impacted the way Litera’s customers use its software, how the document lifecycle sector is evolving.

I spoke with Jonathan Greenblatt, the chairman and co-founder of Legal Innovators, an alternative legal services provider. We discussed the genesis of Legal Innovators, its apprentice-style approach, ways that it has adjusted its model to help firms and law departments meet surge capacity during the pandemic, and best practices that law firms and law departments should apply to thrive during this period of uncertainty.

I spoke with Ed Sohn, the head of solutions at Factor, a provider of legal managed services. We discussed the distinctions between law firms, legal tech vendors, managed services providers, and the Big 4, the biggest challenges for buyers of legal services in this climate, and where legal is headed.

I spoke with Brian Albert, the co-founder and CEO of Videobolt.com, a cloud-based platform for creating affordable custom videos with professional spokespeople. We discussed the genesis of Videobolt.com, how it works, the advantage of using a professional spokesperson in your videos, how the pandemic impacted Videobolt.com, and how video in legal marketing is evolving.

I spoke with Joey Seeber, the co-founder and CEO of Level 2 Legal Solutions, a provider of managed services focused on privacy, compliance, and litigation. We discussed how Level 2 Legal has adapted to the current environment, the opportunities for growth, leadership and advice for chief executive officers in the legal industry, and where the legal sector is headed.

I spoke with Aaron Pierce, the vice president and general manager for CounselLink, a legal and spend management solution for law departments. We discussed the 2020 ELM Trends Report, how COVID-19 is impacting law firm consolidation, ways that legal departments have had to pivot in the pandemic, the matter types that have changed most drastically, and how legal departments may manage their legal spend for the remainder of 2020.

I spoke with Dan Broderick, the co-founder and CEO of BlackBoiler, a startup that offers a patented contract editing tool. We discussed the benefits of using an automated contract markup tool, changes in how clients have used and purchased technology, best practices for legal operations and in-house legal teams beginning a contract automation project, and how the market for automated contract markup technology is evolving.

I spoke with Ray Meiring, the CEO of Qorus Software, a sales enablement platform for remote proposal management. We discussed how sales enablement is impacting law firms, how COVID-19 impacted the law firm approach to RFPs and proposal management, the impact of proposal management software, how AI is impacting the field’s development, and where RFP and proposal management for law firms is headed.

I spoke with Rich Robinson, the Director of Legal Operations & Litigation Support for Toyota Legal One, which is part of Toyota Motor North America. We discussed ways that career disruption has changed, how professionals can adapt to the current environment, overcoming the reluctance to pivot, and maximizing opportunities.

I spoke with Vishal Sunak, the founder and CEO of LinkSquares, an artificial intelligence-based contract analytics platform. We discussed the genesis of LinkSquares, how corporations manage contracts differently from law firms, whether that is changing in light of the COVID-19 crisis, how the landscape for contract litigation will evolve once the courts return to their standard, if not normal, operations, and advice for founders of legal tech start-ups navigating the challenges of expanding their business.

I spoke with Jon Tobin, a lawyer and the founder of Counsel for Creators, which is a Los Angeles-based law firm that works with clients in the arts, entertainment, software development, and other sectors, and offers a legal subscription model to make the law accessible for small businesses. We discussed the advantages of a subscription service for lawyers, ways that it empowers clients, and how to develop one.

I spoke with Haresh Bhungalia, the CEO of Casepoint, a provider of e-discovery software. We discussed the genesis of Casepoint, how it has adapted to the challenges presented by COVID-19, ways that legal technology companies can manage the current uncertainty and continue to generate momentum, how companies can use data-driven forecasting and precise cost modeling to guide them as the market shifts, and what can legal providers do to prepare now for the expected increased demand in litigation.