Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Jeff Pfeifer, the vice president of product management at LexisNexis, where he is responsible for product development strategy for the company’s electronic solutions portfolio. We discussed how the exponential growth in data is presenting new challenges in legal research, what is necessary to empower the data driven lawyer of the future, ways that machine learning and artificial intelligence are impacting the legal field, and how the evolution of analytics is influencing the predictability of trial outcomes, among other topics.

I spoke with Justin Hectus, the CIO and CISO of Keesal Young & Logan, a Pacific rim-based law firm with a nationwide litigation practice. We discussed the law firm’s partnership with Privva to collaboratively implement the EDRM’s new Security Audit Questionnaire, why law firms should apply the questionnaire to their vendor risk management programs, other standards and regulations driving change in law firm security audits and controls, and how this type of collaboration is impacting the legal industry.

I spoke with Catherine Krow, the founder of Digitory Legal, a legal budgeting and resource management system for lawyers and corporate law departments. Before starting Digitory Legal, Catherine practiced for 17 years and was a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. We discussed the genesis of Digitory Legal, why legal budgeting and resource management are important issues for law firms and their clients, how the Digitory Legal system works, key trends, and advice for lawyers practicing in today’s legal market.

I spoke with Max Rosenthal, an in-house labor and employment attorney with a large media company, who is also the author of The Bridge: How to Launch Your Career Through a Legal Internship. We discussed his interest in writing the book, what law students and newer lawyers should be focusing on in the current market, strategies for finding an internship or a mentor, the greatest challenges ahead for law students and new practitioners, and what employers are looking for when hiring a legal intern or a junior attorney.

I spoke with Corporate Legal Operations Consortium leaders Connie Brenton, the Senior Director of Legal Operations at NetApp, Mary O’Carroll, Head of Legal Operations at Google, Jeff Franke, Assistant General Counsel of Global Legal Operations at Yahoo, and Chris Coats, Vice President of Legal Operations at Oracle. We discussed the genesis of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, why legal operations principles have become so important in modern law department management, what attendees at the 2017 CLOC Institute can expect, how CLOC is evolving, and where the field of legal operations is headed.

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.