Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Aaron Pierce, the vice president and general manager for CounselLink, a legal and spend management solution for law departments. We discussed the 2020 ELM Trends Report, how COVID-19 is impacting law firm consolidation, ways that legal departments have had to pivot in the pandemic, the matter types that have changed most drastically, and how legal departments may manage their legal spend for the remainder of 2020.

I spoke with Nicholas d’Adhemar and Stephen Wilcock, the CEO and CTO, respectively, of Apperio, a legal technology company that provides automated legal spend tracking, management, and analysis solutions. We discussed how Apperio reflects the goals of the ongoing corporate legal operations revolution which focuses on cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and streamlined workflow, and comparisons between the legal tech communities in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.

I spoke with Dan Broderick, the co-founder and CEO of BlackBoiler, a startup that offers a patented contract editing tool. We discussed the benefits of using an automated contract markup tool, changes in how clients have used and purchased technology, best practices for legal operations and in-house legal teams beginning a contract automation project, and how the market for automated contract markup technology is evolving.

I spoke with Ray Meiring , the CEO of Qorus Software, a sales enablement platform for remote proposal management. We discussed how sales enablement is impacting law firms, how COVID-19 impacted the law firm approach to RFPs and proposal management, the impact of proposal management software, how AI is impacting the field’s development, and where RFP and proposal management for law firms is headed.

I spoke with Rich Robinson, the Director of Legal Operations & Litigation Support for Toyota Legal One, which is part of Toyota Motor North America. We discussed ways that career disruption has changed, how professionals can adapt to the current environment, overcoming the reluctance to pivot, and maximizing opportunities.

I spoke with Vishal Sunak, the founder and CEO of LinkSquares, an artificial intelligence-based contract analytics platform. We discussed the genesis of LinkSquares, how corporations manage contracts differently from law firms, whether that is changing in light of the COVID-19 crisis, how the landscape for contract litigation will evolve once the courts return to their standard, if not normal, operations, and advice for founders of legal tech start-ups navigating the challenges of expanding their business.

I spoke with Jon Tobin, a lawyer and the founder of Counsel for Creators, which is a Los Angeles-based law firm that works with clients in the arts, entertainment, software development, and other sectors, and offers a legal services subscription to make the law accessible for small businesses. We discussed the advantages of a subscription model for lawyers, ways that it empowers clients, and how to develop one.

I spoke with Haresh Bhungalia, the CEO of Casepoint, a provider of e-discovery software. We discussed the genesis of Casepoint, how it has adapted to the challenges presented by COVID-19, ways that legal technology companies can manage the current uncertainty and continue to generate momentum, how companies can use data-driven forecasting and precise cost modeling to guide them as the market shifts, and what can legal providers do to prepare now for the expected increased demand in litigation.

I spoke with Michael Grupp , the founder and CEO of BRYTER, a no-code platform for building digital applications in the legal and compliance industries. We discussed the genesis of BRYTER, how it works, its most popular use cases, how BRYTER’s team adapted to the remote working environment, its successful round of funding during the pandemic, and its expansion plans.

I spoke with Dana Denis-Smith, the founder and CEO of Obelisk Support, a UK-based company that provides flexible legal services worldwide. We discussed the genesis of Obelisk Support, how the company has adapted to the COVID-19 crisis, the skills that are necessary to thrive in the current environment, and her research focused on empowering female founders.