Reinventing Professionals

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.

I spoke with Warren Agin, the director of professional development at LexPredict, a consulting firm focused on legal data strategy, and the founding chair of the ABA’s Legal Analytics Committee. We discussed his new role at LexPredict, the mission of the ABA’s Legal Analytics Committee, what lawyers need to do to adapt to new technologies, the practical applications of data and analytics, and how he sees the legal field evolving.

I spoke with Allison Josephy Key, the sales lead for ZipWhip, a platform that allows law firms and their clients to leverage the firm’s existing telephone infrastructure and interact through text messaging. We discussed how Zipwhip works, the features in its platform that are most appealing to legal professionals, how users can leverage this technology to enhance their marketing and business development, the advantages of communicating through text over phone and email, and how this level of communication is evolving within the legal profession.

I spoke with Dan Anderson, co-founder and CEO of SeeUnity, a provider of content integration, migration, and synchronization products for law firms, corporations, and government agencies. We discussed the genesis of SeeUnity, the content integration challenges that law firms are facing, content transformation and how it helps law firms access, manage, and interact with their data, and what law firms should avoid as they migrate from on-premises content management systems to the cloud.

I spoke with Michele DeStefano, a professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law and the founder & executive director of LawWithoutWalls, a think tank designed to create innovations at the intersection of law, business, and technology. She is also a guest faculty member at Harvard Law School’s Executive Education program and the author of the newly released book, Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation (American Bar Association, 2018). We discussed her background and work at the University of Miami School of Law, her motivation for writing Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation, why she founded LawWithoutWalls, how the profession has changed in the years since she created that organization, whether innovation can be measured, and where the legal industry is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Hélène Russell, a UK-based knowledge management specialist and founder of The Knowledge Business. She helps law firms with their knowledge sharing and learning challenges through her books, training, and consulting. We discussed the genesis of The Knowledge Business, the benefits of knowledge sharing for law firms, her new program to promote virtual online coffee connections, her new book club, and how knowledge sharing programs will evolve in the coming year. Those interested in joining her virtual online coffee connections program or book club can contact her directly at [email protected].

I spoke with Jared Coseglia, the founder and CEO of TRU Staffing Partners, a contract staffing and executive placement search firm representing talent and opportunities in cybersecurity, e-discovery, and privacy. We discussed how TRU Staffing Partners has adapted to an increasingly dynamic legal market, why privacy is an increasingly popular career path, the state of the market for professions with skills in privacy, how it will continue to evolve, and a few best practices for those interested in a career in this area.

I spoke with Sean Bernstein, the co-founder of MinuteBox, a cloud-based minute book management service. We discussed the genesis of MinuteBox, how it is changing the way companies manage corporate minute books, the benefits of transitioning from a physical to a digital storage system for corporate records, the Canadian Legal Innovation Zone in Toronto, and where legal tech is headed in Canada.

I spoke with Eyal Iffergan, the president and CEO of Hyperion Global Partners, a consulting firm focused on legal business strategy and operations for the AmLaw 200 and Global 1000. We discussed the genesis of Hyperion Global Partners, how his team aligns the application of technology with consulting guidance, ways that the conversation about operational efficiency and innovation has changed in the past 10 years, and where the legal industry is headed.

I spoke with Dr. Marc Morant, the Head of Flexible Legal Resources at PwC Switzerland. We discussed the mission of PwC’s Flexible Legal Resources practice, where the company is implementing this approach, how it differs from other offerings, ways that the legal industry has changed that make the use of flexible legal resources so important, and the trajectory of the profession.

I spoke with Drew Amoroso, the founder of Move Associates, a company that focuses on professional development for lawyers. Prior to founding Move Associates, Drew was both a senior associate at a global law firm and a solo practitioner focusing on the fitness and health and wellness industries.

I spoke with Mark Ettinger, a vice president at Linguistic Systems, a language translation company. We discussed how his team performs translations, the technology it uses, its Relativity plug-in, whether neural translation technology can replace human editors, how clients are combining the two, and the challenges of remaining current with digital developments.

I spoke with Anthony Crowell, the dean and president of New York Law School, which recently launched a Business of Law Institute and released a market research report called – The Business of Law: A Market Research Study to Explore Opportunities for New York Law School Students – which helped to support the new initiative. [Disclosure: New York Law School engaged Ari Kaplan Advisors to produce this new report.] We discussed the genesis of the Business of Law Institute, why it was important for the study to combine qualitative interviews, quantitative analytics, and student focus groups, the report’s key findings, its surprises, and how the law school’s new initiative reflects the trajectory of legal education and the profession.

I spoke with Stevie Ghiassi, the co-founder and CEO of Legaler, an Australian legal technology company focused on advancing the delivery of legal services and expanding access to justice through blockchain technology. He is also the host of the LegalMeets podcast and president of the Australian Legal Technology Association. We discussed the genesis of Legaler, the state of legal technology in Australia, how Legaler is influencing access to justice, and the company’s token initiative.

I spoke with Rebecca Yoder, the director of legal technology for SpringCM, a contract lifecycle management software provider. We discussed her role at SpringCM, the adoption level of contract lifecycle management in legal, how SpringCM helps the CLM efforts of in-house legal teams, the distinction in CLM usage in buy-side and sell-side of contracts, and her advice for professionals interested in CLM.

I spoke with Stacie Neeter and Jim Mitchell, the co-leaders of the legal management consulting group at Stout, an independent advisory firm. We discussed the focus of the legal management consulting group, why legal management consulting has become so important, how technology is impacting modern law departments, ways that corporate legal teams are evolving, and the most significant trends that are driving change in the legal industry.

I spoke with Zelda Owens, the managing director of Attorney Placements for the Glenmont Group, a leading legal industry recruiting firm. She has served as director of Women in eDiscovery’s New York City chapter and as the chairperson of The Masters Conference, which just held an event in Manhattan. We discussed her role at the Glenmont Group, how the recruiting process has changed, how employment candidates can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market, the areas in which technology is displacing human talent, ways that law firms and law departments can build successful teams, and where legal recruiting is headed.

I spoke with Ian Gauci, a founding partner with GTG Advocates, a law firm of 22 professionals in Malta. He serves on Malta’s National Blockchain Task Force and is one of the drafters of a new law on smart contracts, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies, and advises the government and financial institutions on fintech and blockchain matters. We discussed why distributed ledger technology like blockchain has become so popular in Malta, the unique characteristics of the Maltese legal community that fuel adoption of new technology thrive, how lawyers can take advantage of blockchain and other DLT tools, the risks of doing so, and where this sector is headed in Europe.

I spoke with Imran Jaswal, a managing director at Duff and Phelps who serves as the commercial lead for the company’s new CyberClarity360 solution. We discussed the genesis of CyberClarity360, factors that impact an organization’s cyber risk profile, how CyberClarity360 helps third-party vendors improve their cybersecurity, and ways that it is being used to navigate GDPR.