The Contract Lens Podcast

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Gary Zuder, VP of Sales at Malbek, chats with Jason Smith, Managing Director at Elevate Services, about the provocative question: who owns contracts? With the tongue and cheek answer of “it depends”, Jason starts off by explaining the processes that feed into contracts and what Finance, Sales, Procurement, and Legal all need from their contracting process. He describes how contracts are assets to the whole company and, since every company is different, should be treated differently depending on your needs. There are more owners to contracts than most people think, so Jason shares how technology can be the enabler to unite the needs of every stakeholder for your contracts and where to start with technology. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Lee Hoang, Account Executive at Malbek, chats with Katy Werner, Managing Director of Legal Transformation Solutions at Epiq, about the low or no-cost resources that are out there to help a company select a CLM. Katy begins by sharing what free resources are out there to help narrow down the CLM universe, and what challenges and pitfalls you might encounter with these resources. Not every organization needs a full consultancy approach, so the conversation then shifts to low-cost resources and what insights that they can provide. Katy then describes what to expect from the process and how to develop objectives for making your CLM journey a successful and productive endeavor. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Matt Patel, COO and co-founder at Malbek, chats with Kingsley Martin, President & CEO at KMStandards and Chief Contract Scientist at Akorda, about simplifying contract review with the help of technology. Kingsley begins with the analogy of how AI is the MRI of the contracting world; an indispensable tool in understanding contracts beyond the surface. Touching on how AI can improve efficiencies, he explains how technology is a necessary supplement for today’s modern Legal professional. Kingsley then discusses the future direction of Legal tech and what that could mean for the contract management world. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

On today's episode of the Contract Lens Podcast, Jaime Slocum, VP of Customer Experience at Malbek, chats with Sumi Trombley, Senior Legal Operations Consultant at UpLevelOps, about user adoption in contract management. Sumi begins by sharing that you should never stop thinking about user adoption, treating it as a continual process from the very beginning. The conversation then leads to how communication with your internal stakeholders as well as your vendors is critical for successful adoption. Sumi shares ways of making your stakeholders feel heard and how to show them the “what’s in it for me” benefits. She then explains how solutions need to be continually nurtured and how having a champion will help you achieve success with a CLM solution. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

 On today's episode of the Contract Lens Podcast, Hemanth Puttaswamy, CEO and co-founder at Malbek, and Caroline McCaffery, CEO & Founder of ClearOPS, discuss the intersection of data security and contracts. Caroline begins by introducing some of the many acronyms in data security and explaining where they come from and what they mean for you. She further explains some of the most common data security sticking points in the contract negotiating process and touches on how to align IT and legal so that data security is reflected in your legal documents. Using real world examples, Caroline outlines what your policies should look like to ensure that they drive the correct behavior and are actually followed. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

On today's episode of The Contract Lens Podcast Becky Holloway, VP of Marketing at Malbek, chats with Omar Sweiss, Founder and CEO of JusticeBid, about e-auctions and diversity – two topics that might seem unrelated but are deeply connected. Omar begins by explaining the pain points of procuring legal services and how e-auctions can help alleviate these troubles. Using his experiences as a springboard, he dispels common myths about the e-auction world. Omar also describes how Legal as a community is becoming more curious about and willing to adopt new technology to drive value. Omar continues the conversation by sharing how e-auction technology, like JusticeBid, is helping to increase diversity in legal firms and law departments by taking down systemic barriers and creating sustainable change. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Anne Moore, Senior Solution Consultant at Malbek, chats with Paul Branch, CTO at World Commerce and Contracting, about friction points within the contracting process. Paul begins by explaining what a friction point is and the negatives as well as the unexpected benefits that can result from them. Then, using fresh research from WCC as well as his extensive experience, he describes how bringing process, people, and technology together can help reduce the negative friction points within the CLM process. Paul also shares how a quality CLM solution that offers agility and contract automation can further help reduce the costs associated with friction in the contract management process, and what to look at to prove the benefits. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

WCC on LinkedIn

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Matt Patel, COO and Co-founder at Malbek, chats with Alistair Maiden, CEO of Syke, about the benefits of contract automation. Alistair starts by sharing how contract automation can “oil the wheels” of the contract process by reducing the legal blocks and decrease contract cycle time. Using examples from his personal experience, he shares how contract automation can reduce the need for legal review, increase efficiency, and provide savings across an organization. Alistair then explains how what is in a contract is just as important as what’s not in the contract, and how contract automation coupled with AI can identify key risk areas of a contract and standardize the review process. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

Syke on LinkedIn

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Dan Sloan, a Senior Account Executive at Malbek, talks with Colin McCarthy, CEO and Founder of Legal Operators about the value that legal operations can provide back to the business. Colin lays out the five pillars that underpin the legal operations role: process, legal tech, spend optimization, data analysis, and diversity. He talks about the ways he has seen legal operations evolve over the years and transition into a highly collaborative core function within business, touching other critical areas, like sales operations and revenue operations. Colin highlights the key problems that legal tech can help solve for legal operations professionals and shares the origin story of his own growing community, Legal Operators. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

Legal Operators website

Legal Operators on Twitter

In this episode of The Contract Lens Podcast, Matt Patel, COO and Co-founder at Malbek, chats with Lauryn Haake, Founder and President of Qualitas Consulting Group, about contract change management. Lauryn begins by pointing out that there are risks inherent whether changing or not changing, and success relies on careful analysis of the impacts either of those choices may have. She then shares that the biggest risk with change is leaving others behind, and organizations need to manage their change in a way that fits the style of the organization. Lauryn explains the importance of engaging and empowering employees throughout times of change and illustrates how the human factor, not just the capabilities of the technology being introduced, is what determines if the change will be successful. So grab a glass of wine, and let's talk contracts!

Qualitas on LinkedIn