What if the client's real problem isn't the legal problem at all?

In this episode, Anthony Seale and Daniel Porus are joined by Jana Blount, Director of Client Solutions and Digital Strategy for EMEA and APAC at Norton Rose Fulbright. Jana has spent her career embedding design thinking into legal organizations — building the radical change team at DLA Piper before taking on her current role at NRF.

We explore what design thinking actually looks like in practice inside a global law firm, and why asking "why" three times can completely reframe a client brief.

In this conversation we cover:

- What design thinking is and where it came from. 

- How to uncover what a client actually needs vs. what they ask for. 

- Why most "client-centricity" in law firms is really just assumption-making. 

- The matter number story - a cautionary tale about testing assumptions before you build. 

- How to win over senior partners when challenging the status quo. 

- What GenAI means for the value lawyers create - and the massive opportunity most firms are ignoring.

Ilona Logvinova, Global Chief AI Officer at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, joins Daniel Porus and Anthony Seale to explore the non-lawyer skills law firms need to stay competitive. From hybrid intelligence and systems thinking to AI oversight, inductive reasoning, and celebrating tech talent, Ilona shares how firms can rethink delivery, mindset, and culture to build the legal workforce of the next decade.

In this episode of Cracking Legal Innovation, we sit down with Michelle Mahoney, Chief Innovation Officer at Mallesons (formerly King & Wood Mallesons), to explore how a truly data-driven approach is transforming legal practice.

From designing experiments with measurable impact to aligning incentives with innovation, Michelle shares how her team uses data, storytelling, and behavioural insights to drive real change—unlocking adoption, proving ROI, and rethinking how legal services are delivered.

A must-listen for anyone serious about legal tech, GenAI, and the future of law.

Kerry Westland, Partner & Head of Innovation at Addleshaw Goddard, leads nearly 80 people transforming legal service delivery.  In this episode, she discusses the practical factors that influence legaltech adoption, and how firms and clients can align to ensure innovation succeeds. 

The answer often surprises: cloud restrictions that persist years later, AI panel terms repeating past mistakes, and the gap between procurement requirements and innovation goals. Kerry explores how to prove value beyond traditional metrics, the client capabilities that drive success, and why honest collaboration beats overpromised transformation.

 📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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In this episode of Cracking Legal Innovation, Andrei Salajan, Director of Legal Tech & Innovation at Schoenherr, shares insights on what makes a truly effective partnership between law firms and legal technology providers.

He dives into:

- The three pillars of successful collaboration - Product, People, and Partnership
- How to create trust and transparency between firms and vendors
- What law firms can do to drive adoption and creativity in their tech stacks
- How AI, document automation, and transaction management are reshaping legal practice
- Why mindset and culture matter more than the tools themselves

 📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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In this episode of Cracking Legal Innovation, David Campbell, Former Partner at A&O Shearman, and Shruti Ajitsaria, Head of Fuse, share how the firm approaches legal technology - from backing early-stage startups to embedding new tools into everyday practice.

We explore:
💡 The origins of Fuse, A&O Shearman’s innovation hub
🤝 The power of partner champions in driving adoption
🧭 How to navigate risk when working with early-stage legal tech
🌍 What it takes to embed innovation across a global firm

This conversation dives into the realities of innovating at scale - managing risk, building trust, and creating lasting change across a global partnership.

 📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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What does legal technology look like through a partner's eyes? Rusty Fleming, who represents lenders and commercial real estate developers in high-volume transactions across the United States, pulls back the curtain on how he's built one of the most profitable practices at his firm - and technology is central to the strategy.

📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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In this episode, Jeff reveals:

• How to structure lean innovation teams that scale without adding endless headcount
• Why saying "no" strategically builds more credibility than being an order-taker
• The balance between hiring legal vs. non-legal talent for innovation roles
• How to navigate law firm politics and secure budget for innovation initiatives
• Why qualitative feedback often matters more than usage dashboards
• The art of picking your battles when senior partners make urgent requests
• Why solving unglamorous but painful problems wins more hearts and minds than flashy tech

 📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe for more episodes. 

Buying technology is easy. Getting lawyers to use it? That’s the real challenge.

In this episode, Andrea Miskolczi (InterAlia Consulting) explains why implementation is less about the software and more about people, culture, and change management. She shares how to win over the right personas, use incentives wisely, and even bring fun into adoption through gamification.

Packed with real-world lessons from her time at Dentons Europe and Wolf Theiss, Andrea’s insights are essential for anyone trying to make innovation stick inside law firms.

📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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How do you make the business case for legal technology? Hugo shares how to combine quantitative metrics with qualitative client feedback - and why adoption, training, and champions are just as important as the tools themselves.

📍 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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