The only thing more important than embracing AI transformation for legal teams today is being able to communicate the change and manage it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Mike Russell, Head of Global Legal Operations at Expedia Group, to explore just how legal operations is spearheading this movement. 
What You’ll Learn:

• How to position change management as the most critical skill in legal operations
• The framework for evaluating AI tools in legal departments
• Why measuring "lawyer hours saved" alone is an incomplete metric
• How to structure listening tours across global legal operations
• The strategic vision for self-serving legal agents that reduce human touchpoints
• How to navigate the law firm relationship evolution in an AI-enabled market
• The governance framework that separates productivity gains from legal liability
• Why legal operations should hire for curiosity and adaptability over experience
• How peer-driven adoption accelerates AI implementation across legal teams
• The opportunity to position legal operations as the first hire after general counsel in growing companies

Tune in for the play-by-play on building and managing AI-enabled departments. 
Highlights:

00:00 Introduction 02:09 From Law Firm IT to Global Legal Operations: A Three-Decade Journey04:33 Breaking Down the Legal Ops Evolution  07:54 Why Change Management Defines Legal Ops Success08:30 Mike’s Legal Ops Success Playbook13:48 Building AI-Enabled Legal Operations Teams15:30 Is Saving Lawyer Hours a Valid Metric? 19:21 The New Skills: Hiring for Legal Ops Today 21:53 Building Agents That Compress Decision Timelines25:03 Architecting Self-Serving Legal Agents 10127:20 How to Sell Innovation in a Conservative Industry29:13 The Truth About Managing Multiple AI Agents30:17 Making AI Compliance Intrinsic, Not Retroactive31:36 The Importance of Internal AI Champions and Peer Advocacy33:23 How Real-Time Visibility and Peer Success Drive Deeper AI Adoption34:38 Unconventional Skills That Transform Leadership37:00 Balancing Innovation Velocity With Organizational Readiness38:10 The Art of Listening: Using the Five Whys to Diagnose Workflow Friction40:45 Essential Resources: Richard Susskind, David Cowan, and the Business of Law41:48 Why Jurisdiction Differences Demand Flexibility43:18 AI Won't Eliminate Jobs, It Will Transform Them44:31 Mike’s Hot Take: Legal Ops is the Secret to Scaling 45:34 Key Takeaways & Final Thoughts
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