BDO's Legal Tech Talk Podcast

Guest Notes

Lynn is the Director of Litigation Support in the Chicago office of Dykema and has expertise in litigation support, Westlaw, trials, litigation, and document review, making her a valuable source of insights and knowledge for the industry.

Guest LinkedIn

Lynn Tubalinal | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Adoption of AI in Legal Industry: The legal industry is increasingly adopting AI technologies, including generative AI. There’s a buzz around AI that extends beyond the legal industry, making it more exciting and accessible.
• Technology Adoption Pace: The pace of technology adoption in the legal industry is accelerating, partly due to newer attorneys who are more open to using technology.
• Cost Considerations: Cost is a primary consideration when adopting new technologies. Lynn prefers to wait for technology to mature and become more affordable rather than being an early adopter.
• Feedback Loop: Lynn values feedback from attorneys after court cases or technology use to improve services and tools.
• Staying Informed: Lynn stays up to date with the latest technologies by being open to demos and discussions with vendors, even if the technology may not be immediately applicable.
• Practical Business Use Cases: Lynn is focused on finding practical business use cases for new technologies before advocating for their adoption within her firm.

Guest Notes

Stacey is the Counsel and E-Discovery Lead in the Corporate Litigation Department of IBM in the Armonk, New York office. She handles IBM third-party subpoenas and manages all aspects of E-Discovery for Corporate Litigation.

Guest LinkedIn

Stacey Blaustein | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Human element in AI: Stacey emphasized the importance of the human element in AI, particularly in ensuring trustworthiness, transparency, and ethical use.
• Ethical considerations and guardrails: The discussion highlighted the need for ethical considerations and guardrails in AI usage, especially with the rise of generative AI.
• Education and training: IBM places a strong emphasis on educating its employees about AI, requiring extensive training to ensure they understand how to use and implement AI ethically.
• Practical use of AI in legal practice: The conversation touched on the practical use of AI in legal practice, including the potential pitfalls of relying too heavily on AI tools like ChatGPT for drafting legal documents.
• Future of AI in legal tech: The episode concluded with a discussion on the future of AI in legal tech, with a cautious optimism about its potential to improve efficiency and productivity.

Guest Notes

Sarah Alt is an accomplished professional in ethical artificial intelligence with extensive information technology experience working for and consulting with Fortune 1000 companies, professional services firms, institutions of higher education, startups, and nonprofits. As the Chief Process & AI Officer for Michael Best, Sarah spearheads the integration of AI technologies and strategies to drive innovation, excellence, and client value.

Guest LinkedIn

Sarah Alt | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Sarah Alt, as the Chief Process and AI Officer at Michael Best, emphasizes the transformative impact of AI on legal operations. AI is being used to streamline processes, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance the efficiency of legal work.
• The importance of ethical AI is highlighted through Sarah Alt's work with the Ethical AI Consortium. Ensuring AI is used responsibly and transparently is crucial, especially in sensitive areas like hiring and legal services.
• Educating lawyers about AI and its implications is essential. The AI Center of Excellence at Michael Best serves as a platform to demystify AI, create awareness, and prepare legal professionals for the changes AI brings to the industry.
• This episode discusses the evolving landscape of AI regulation, including data privacy laws and executive orders. Understanding and navigating these regulations are critical for law firms to help ensure compliance and protect client confidentiality.

Guest Notes

Maureen Holland brings several years of consulting and hands-on legal technology and E-Discovery experience to her position as Global Assurance Services Manager for AstraZeneca. Having had many roles within the E-Discovery industry throughout her career—vendor, consultant, and E-Discovery advisor for both plaintiffs and defense—she has advised senior executive stakeholders, attorneys, paralegals, and clients on different methods of preserving and managing electronic data throughout the entire E-Discovery lifecycle.

Guest LinkedIn

Maureen Holland | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Maureen draws parallels between her personal achievement of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and her professional journey, underscoring the significance of resilience, determination, and continuous effort in overcoming challenges.
• The episode explores the need for proactive data management, including data governance, data disposition, and reducing data footprints to mitigate risks and costs.
• Building trust and fostering collaboration across different stakeholders and departments are highlighted as essential for successful project implementation and organizational change.
• The theme of simplifying complex workflows and processes to enhance stakeholder engagement and adoption is recurrent throughout the conversation.

Connie Brenton is a seasoned legal operations professional with a career spanning Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and NetApp. She co-founded CLOC and is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of LegalOps.com. Together with Jeffrey Franke, she is bringing the "Running Legal as a Business" conference as part of their latest venture, LegalOps.com.

Jeffrey Franke has been in the legal operations field since 2005, with significant roles at Sun Microsystems and Yahoo. He co-founded CLOC and is now the CEO and Co-Founder of LegalOps.com. Together with Connie Brenton, he is bringing the "Running Legal as a Business" conference as part of their latest venture, LegalOps.com.

Guest LinkedIn

Connie Brenton | LinkedIn

Jeffrey Franke | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Evolution of Legal Operations: Connie and Jeffrey discuss the journey from the early days of legal operations to the establishment of CLOC and the ongoing evolution of the field.
• Impact of AI: They explore the current and future impact of generative AI on legal operations, emphasizing the need for early adopters and the potential for AI to drive competitive advantage.
• Role Definition and Training: The importance of defining the role of legal operations professionals and providing proper training and certification is highlighted.
• Community and Mentorship: Connie and Jeffrey stress the significance of building a community and mentoring the next generation of legal operations professionals.
• Future Vision: Their new venture, LegalOps.com, aims to provide comprehensive resources and frameworks to further professionalize and advance the field of legal operations.

Guest Notes

Judge Paul Grimm has made significant contributions to the legal profession, particularly in the areas of e-discovery and legal technology. His work on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and his scholarly contributions have been instrumental in shaping modern legal practices. Judge Grimm's dedication to improving the legal system's efficiency and fairness through technology is evident in his teaching and writing, making him a respected authority in the field.

Guest Website

Paul W. Grimm | Generic Website

Key Takeaways

• The integration of generative AI in legal practices presents both significant opportunities and ethical challenges. Judge Grimm emphasizes the importance of understanding the capabilities and limitations of GenAI to effectively leverage its benefits while adhering to legal and ethical standards.
• The 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which Judge Grimm helped craft, are more relevant than ever in the context of GenAI, highlighting the need for competence in technology as part of legal practice.
• Access to justice can be significantly enhanced through the judicious use of GenAI, offering promising solutions to longstanding barriers faced by the public in legal systems. However, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated legal assistance is paramount.
• The legal profession must engage in continuous education and dialogue about the evolving landscape of technology in law. Judge Grimm's work exemplifies the critical role of legal educators and practitioners in navigating these changes responsibly and innovatively.

Guest Notes

Judge Paul Grimm has made significant contributions to the legal profession, particularly in the areas of e-discovery and legal technology. His work on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and his scholarly contributions have been instrumental in shaping modern legal practices. Judge Grimm's dedication to improving the legal system's efficiency and fairness through technology is evident in his teaching and writing, making him a respected authority in the field.

Guest LinkedIn

Paul W. Grimm | Generic Website

Key Takeaways

• The evolution of e-discovery and its impact on the legal profession, highlighting the importance of understanding and leveraging technology for effective legal practice.
• Judge Grimm's perspective on the role of judges and lawyers in ensuring the ethical use of technology, emphasizing the need for continuous education and adaptation.
• Insights into the challenges of maintaining justice in the age of generative AI and the potential for technology to improve access to legal services and enhance the rule of law.
• The significance of collaboration and professionalism in the legal community, as demonstrated through Judge Grimm's experiences and rulings, underscoring the value of civility and cooperation in achieving just outcomes.
• Judge Grimm's vision for the future of legal technology and its implications for the practice of law, including the potential for AI to transform legal research, evidence, and the overall efficiency of the legal system.

Andrea is a partner in the New York office of Norton Rose Fulbright and spearheads the firm's outreach to technology sector clients. She focuses her practice on data privacy, e-discovery, cross border discovery, and cybersecurity.

LinkedIn

Andrea D'Ambra | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

Norton Rose Fulbright has been using predictive AI for more than 10 years, and Andrea is interested in learning how generative AI can be used to make e-discovery easier or faster.

Andrea enjoys using GenAI to create images and is developing her skill level in prompt engineering. She says it is an artform to do it well.

Andrea sees great value in leveraging GenAI in legal technology, but the industry has to develop ways to validate the results.

Norton Rose Fulbright has a monthly e-discovery information governance group where partners discuss the latest technology and receive training to stay up to date on recent developments.

During her 20 years in the legal industry, Lynn has held previous roles at Sidley Austin LLP, DLA Piper, and Rosen Technology Resources. She has a JD from DePaul University College of Law, and a skill set that includes litigation support, document review, and more.

LinkedIn

Lynn Tubalinal | LinkedIn

Key Takeaways

• Lynn attends Legal Week in New York to network and share ideas with other legal technology professionals.
• She is interested in learning about how legal departments are incorporating generative AI.
• Lynn says technology-assisted review (TAR) was complicated and difficult to explain when it was developed, but AI is user friendly and easy for people to learn.
• Legal professionals are curious about AI, specifically using text to create images.
• As a leader in the legal industry, Lynn’s word of the year is confidence, and the Legal Week keynote speech about quiet confidence resonated with her.

Notes

Emily has been at Akerman, an Am Law 100 law firm, for more than 20 years. She joined the firm as a paralegal. Now, as a litigation manager, she ensures efficient and effective processes for managing workflows, legal data, and documents. Four years ago, she helped start the e-discovery services department.

She’s also Director of Charity at Women in eDiscovery. She has been involved in the organization for several years, helping to establish the Miami Chapter and serving as chapter director.

LinkedIn

Emily Bartkowicz, CEDS, ACP

Key Takeaways

• Emily attends Legal Week in New York to meet other professionals who work in legal operations and learn about the latest updates in technology.
• She is interested in learning about groundbreaking ideas to streamline data collection.
• Emily says generative AI may be useful in identifying data sources that many people forget during the data collection process.
• She suggests AI may be helpful to young lawyers working remotely who do not have the benefit of collaborating in person on a daily basis with more experienced colleagues.
• Emily says the difference between AI and Technology Assisted Review (TAR) is that TAR still requires a human to make decisions, but AI can make them for you.