Reinventing Professionals

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 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. We discussed the genesis and new edition of Every Relationship Matters: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform Your Business, Your Firm, and Yourself, how technology is impacting the way lawyers practice, Where professionals should focus their efforts and develop skills to remain relevant, and whether one can create an instruction manual for a successful professional career. Peter also shared two of his key career themes: (1) Do what you say you are going to do to build trust; and (2) Managing expectations is what client service is about.

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 Ben Whetsell, a co-founder of Paper Software, the developer of Contract Tools for Windows and Turner for Mac, which are contract review and analysis tools. We discussed the genesis of Paper Software, why legal professionals need contract review and analysis technology, and how the evolution of the way lawyers practice impacts the need for tools of this type.

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. We discussed BakerManage and the genesis of its development, the collaboration between Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC and LawBase, why project management has become so important for legal professionals, and what an initiative like this one symbolizes about the evolution of the legal industry, among other topics.

I spoke with Dean Sappey, the President and co-founder of DocsCorp, a software company that develops a range of document productivity and security tools for law firms, including pdfDocs, compareDocs, contentCrawler, and cleanDocs. We discussed the genesis of DocsCorp, how the use of digital files is impacting the legal profession, GDPR compliance and how that treatment of digital information is affecting data security and privacy, and upcoming software developments in the legal industry.

I spoke with Mark Noel, the Managing Director of Professional Services for Catalyst, a provider of litigation support software and services. We discussed the webinar Catalyst hosted with Rees Morrison of Altman Weil, Inc. – Centralize, Simplify, Save – How to Leverage Technology to Decrease Outside Legal Spending – focused on the results of the consulting firm’s 2016 Chief Legal Officer Survey, how the report addresses the approach to metrics and cost reduction by corporate counsel, why outside counsel should provide that information to their clients, and ways that artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping to respond to the concerns of chief legal officers, among other topics.

I spoke with Jared Coseglia, the founder and CEO of TRU Staffing Partners, a leading e-discovery and cybersecurity staffing agency. We discussed the genesis of TRU Staffing Partners, current trends in e-discovery and cybersecurity talent acquisition, the impact of consolidation on the industry, the emerging legal technology gig economy, the e-discovery and cybersecurity roles that are in greatest demand, and tips for gaining a competitive advantage in your career or the job market.

I spoke with Chris Chalstrom, Brandon Ward, and Ben Legatt, the founders of Sadie Blue Software, the maker of Agility Blue, a project management tool for the legal profession. We discussed the genesis of Sadie Blue Software, the problems that Agility Blue solves, why project management has become so important in efficiently managing legal projects, and how the development of tools like Agility Blue reflect where the legal market is headed in 2017, among other topics.

I spoke with Jim Vint, a Managing Director and the Practice Lead for the Global Legal Technology Solutions group at Navigant, an international consulting firm. We discussed the e-discovery issues with which clients are struggling, key best practices for navigating the current market for discovery, the power of analytics, and where the legal industry is headed in 2017, among other topics.

I spoke with Jessica Block, a Senior Managing Director and leader of the data governance practice at Ankura Consulting Group, a business advisory and expert services firm. We discussed the rise of cyber incidents and how data governance can influence prevention strategies in law firms and legal departments, advice for companies struggling to manage information risk, and key areas on which to focus, among other topics.

I spoke with Adam McDonell, the founder and president of Salladore, a software platform that streamlines assignment workflow and facilitates communication for attorneys at law firms and corporate legal departments. We discussed the genesis of Salladore, its primary function, the roadblocks to work allocation in law firms and corporations, ways that Salladore’s software streamlines workflow communication, and how tools like Salladore are helping organizations adapt to a changing legal environment.

I spoke with Krishna Srinivasan, a founding general partner at LiveOak Venture Partners in Austin, Texas, an early stage venture capital firm, with investments in a variety of companies, including e-discovery review software provider, DISCO. We discussed the genesis of LiveOak Venture Partners. how the firm makes investment decisions, why legal technology is currently attracting so much attention, the advantages and disadvantages of investing in legal, and investment trends in this sector for 2017.

I spoke with a panel of industry leaders in a virtual roundtable about where the legal field is headed and asked for their advice on navigating prospective 2017 challenges. The participants include: Laura Broomell, COO of Greene Espel, and president of the Association of Legal Administrators; Ray English, Assistant Dean for the Office of Career and Employment Services at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University; Jordan Furlong, principal, Law21; Tony Gomes, SVP and General Counsel, Citrix Systems; Bill Henderson, Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Kate Holmes, managing director, FTI Technology; and, Joshua Rothman, partner, Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto. From cybersecurity and global policy uncertainty to changes in the selection of outside counsel and career services aligning with admissions, descriptions of a destabilizing market were tempered with a recognition of the opportunities ahead.

I spoke with David Ahrens, the chief marketing officer of FRONTEO USA, Inc., a publicly-traded global technology and services company that specializes in big data, artificial intelligence, information governance, managed review and litigation consulting for the e-discovery market. We discussed the company’s acquisition of managed review provider Essential Discovery, Inc., how the addition of EDI supports the company’s continued reinvention, why M&A so active in the legal technology community, and where the industry is headed in 2017.

I spoke with Mike Murray, the director of client solutions, at Veritext, a national provider of court reporting and deposition services. He is also responsible for Law Studio, the company’s collaborative workspace. I spoke with Mike Murray, the director of client solutions, at Veritext, a national provider of court reporting and deposition services. He is also responsible for Law Studio, the company’s collaborative workspace. We discussed the evolution of Law Studio since its launch at Legaltech New York earlier this year, how it is helping lawyers send and receive data securely, factors that differentiate it from other collaborative workspace platforms, and ways that the cloud is impacting the manner in which professionals share information, among other topics.

I spoke with Brad Blickstein, the founder of the Blickstein Group, a consulting firm that helps businesses serve corporate law departments and their law firms. He was the co-founder of Corporate Legal Times (now known as Inside Counsel) and is currently the publisher of the Annual Law Department Operations Survey. We discussed the genesis of the Blickstein Group and the Law Department Operations Survey (produced in partnership with Consilio, QuisLex, Exterro. Onit, Legal Decoder, and Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions), the issues the survey addresses, how the role of legal operations professionals has changed, and the surprising results of his research, among other topics.