Professional Development

New and Evolving Roles in Legal

New technology, changing client expectations, regulatory changes, and more are transforming the legal industry, creating opportunities for individuals to develop new skillsets and for firms and legal departments to rethink how they deliver legal services.
In this podcast interview, learn about new and evolving roles in the legal industry, such as process engineer, project manager, legal operations, data scientist, and document automation specialist.Questions Sam will ask Speakers:
What are some of the key roles you see emerging in legal technology?
How can individuals skill up to transition into new opportunities?
How can firms and legal departments start shifting to new roles, and what should they be doing to ensure that these new functions are successful?
Where would you suggest people go to learn more information?
Moderator:@Samantha Sendrowski - Technology Innovation Manager, Bowditch & Dewey LLP
Speakers:@Gabe Teninbaum -  Assistant Dean of Innovation, Strategic Initiatives, & Distance Education and Professor of Legal Writing, Suffolk University@Sean Monahan -  Director, HBR Consulting
Recorded on 06-29-2022

Case Study: Making a Practicing Attorney Drive an Innovation Project

Most lawyers are enthusiastic about innovation projects, until they are put in charge. The toll it could take on their billable hours, the risk of attaching their reputation to an innovation project, and simply the work itself can all be overwhelming. For that reason, they usually prefer to let someone else to innovate for them.In this interview session, we will highlight how a practicing attorney was convinced to get involved in an innovation project, what support was provided to help her succeed, and what she did to solve her own problem – to the benefit of the entire firm – within the time span of 4 months.Questions Barbara will ask speakers:1) Tell us in short about your project and how was it different from the others that you did in the past.2) What made you say yes to this program?3) What were the biggest challenges and takeaways from going through this process?4) What do you think law firms can do to encourage more practicing attorneys to get involved in projects like this?5) What are the benefits of having practicing attorneys involved in innovation projects and why doesn’t it happen very often?
Moderator:@Barbara Gondim Da Rocha - Head of Knowledge Management and Innovation, RMS Advogados
Speakers:@Floor Blindenbach - Founder & CEO, Organizing4InnovationMayna Felix - Lawyer, RMS Advogados​
​Recorded on 06-28-2022

Managing Expectations in eDiscovery

Project management skills are essential in litigation support to respect deadlines and deliverables. Similar to juggling many balls at once and the trick is not to drop one, two, or more. Get advice from experts on managing expectations - the key to success is not always known - but the key to failure is certainly trying to please everyone.Questions Kathy will ask speakers:- What are some of the most difficult expectations you have had to deal with and how have you dealt with them?- Do you have any time management strategies you can pass along? How can you effectively prioritize to meet demands?- Can or should a plan-B be offered when a deliverable is impossible ?- What advice would you give to someone about managing expectations?Moderator:@Kathy Dallaire, CEDS - CEDS, eDiscovery and Litigation Support Coordinator, Stikeman Elliott LLPSpeakers:@James MacGregor - Partner, Forcyd@Stephanie Clerkin -  Director of Litigation Support, Korein Tillery LLC
Recorded on 06-27-2022​​

Articulating the Adoption and Value of Legal Technology

We all know that new technology without adoption, isn’t useful to advancing our organizational goals nor does it highlight the value of the technology.But how do you articulate the value of the technology without adoption? It’s a bit of the chicken or the egg conversation that anyone deploying a new technology faces. Join us as we discuss how business sponsors can articulate the adoption and value of legal technology to drive sustainable change.Questions Rachel will ask Nikki:• Adoption is critical to the success to legal technology, during the planning process when should the conversation around adoption take place?• Do you think challenge to legal tech adoption is a US centric problem or is this a global industry problem?• Do you think lawyers are really change adverse or is the value not always articulated?• Who should decide if technology is successfully adopted? Who is responsible for articulating the value?• What skills do you think need to be applied to have successful adoption?
Moderator: @Rachel Shields Williams - Director, Knowledge Management, Sidley Austin LLP
Speaker:@Nicola Shaver - CEO, Co-Founder, LegalTechnology Hub
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Recorded on 06-23-2022​

Mobile Devices: We Use Them All Day Long - When Do We Start Protecting Them?

This podcast interview session will take a look into our mobile devices (super computers in our pocket) and the built in (or lack there of) security around them.Can we rely on our devices out of box as long as they’re managed or has the time come where we need to take mobile security to the next level?Questions that David will ask speaker:1. Mobile devices are essentially a smaller version of a computer that can fit in your pocket. They’re on us and in use almost all the time. Confidential information flows to, from and through them, yet we don’t seem to secure them to the same level as a computer. Is that because they’re just secure out of the box? Or are we missing something?2. What types of threats and attacks should we be concerned about with our mobile devices?3. A lot of organizations may say we use MDM (mobile device management) to secure our mobile fleet of devices. Is an MDM sufficient?4. If out of the box security and usage of an MDM is not quite enough, what addition protections should we be looking at?5. How should different usage patterns and user interfaces of mobile devices factor into an organization's model of the mobile security threat and mobile security solutions?6.Obviously budgets and staff have an influence on just how much security you can deploy and manage. What would be the top 3 items that all businesses and mobile users should put into place to help protect their mobile devices?
Moderator: @David Whale - Director Information Security, Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP
Speaker:@Seth Hallem - CEO & Chief Architect, Mobile Helix 
 
Recorded on 06-17-2022
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Your Signature Please, No Pens Required pt. 2! How Remote Online Notaries (RON) and Virtual Rooms Can Eliminate the Need for In Person Notarizations

If we have learned one thing from the pandemic, it’s the fact that we can’t always meet in person but we can continue business.In this podcast, the speakers will discuss ways that eSignatures, remote online notaries and virtual rooms can eliminate the need to travel to an in person Notary.Questions the Co-Moderators will ask Speakers:○ Could you please tell our listeners a little about yourselves? Aaron, let's start with you.○ If you both could briefly chime in as to what e-signatures are and what you can accomplish with them, that would be a great place to start.○ Can you explain for our listeners, how Notaries worked pre-pandemic?○ With the ongoing digital transformation, eSignatures became very popular in the last 2 years. More eSignature vendors offer unique features to digitize traditional workflows in different industries. We know you are familiar with online notarization and Virtual Rooms. Can you tell us more about Remote Online Notarization and Virtual Rooms? What are those and how can they help busy attorneys?Co-Moderators:@Jack Recinto - Senior Applications Director, Vedder Price P.C.@Alisher Yuldashev - ​ Business Technology Advisory Manager, Borden Ladner Gervais
​Speakers:-Aaron Davis - Director, Product Marketing, OneSpan-​Raquel Lima - Product Manager, OneSpan 
Recorded on 04-17-2022

Decision Making Based On Data: Answer to All Problems? Part 2: Client Facing Decision Making Based on Data (Andrew Medeiros)

This session will review the different opportunities to make data-driven decisions in law firms and the challenges that go with them. Ideally the session, will differentiate between organizational/enterprise applications and client facing/legal advice applications.The goal is to map when data-driven decision-making is a good idea and when it is not. Further the session, will explore what to look for in terms of actions taken from data alone (bias, available data) and give tips how to get started and where to find structured data within your organization/firm to get started for a quick win.Questions Christiane will ask Andrew:• How can data enhance decision making?• When is it not appropriate?• What are the limitations: Bias, Data Hygiene• What needs to happen to make better use of data in the future?Moderator:@Christiane Matuch - Manager, Axiom Consulting Partners
Speaker:@Andrew Medeiros - Director of Innovation Solutions, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLPRecorded on 04-21-2022

Data, Data, Data...Where Do You Start?

Everyone is talking about data analytics and the evolving role of KM in conducting analytics. In this podcast, we will discuss where do you start, what tools are needed, what skill sets are required, how do you avoid stepping on the toes of others in the firm, such as the marketing or finance team and who may also be doing analysis of data?Questions Carolyn will ask Bobbi:1. Traditionally KM has been about developing standards, templates and taxonomies to locate knowledge and expertise within the organization. But, now, we are starting to see the evolving “role of data” in providing actionable information as part of knowledge management. Bobbi, does this resonate with you?2. DA Investments/Efforts/Initiatives:a. The increasing interest in data analytics – used to be fairly focused on financials and LPM, but now seeing analytics around diversity and retention, legal process improvement – is that consistent with what you are seeing in firms?b. Is the push to do more with data analytics coming from clients or from within firms themselves as they strive to find ways to improve efficiencies and profitability?3. Building Capabilities (Hiring Trends/Roles)a. A few years ago there was a trend to hire data scientists and data analysts – is this trend continuing?b. How are you seeing that KM’s role is evolving to support data analytics capabilities?4. Where to Start (Demonstrating Value/Low Hanging Fruit).A What is the low hanging fruit?B What would be the advice you’d give the person who wants to show the value of data analytics as applied in the“real world” of a practicing law firmModerator:@Caroline Sweeney - ​Director of Knowledge Management & Innovation, Dorsey & Whitney
Speaker:@Bobbi Basile - Managing Director, HBR Consulting LLCRecorded on 04-08-2022

The Rise of Legal Operations in Law Firms

There is current trend towards legal ops in law firms, but not all is equal. It is quite common to see difference in titles, department names and even what is being covered.How are legal operations shaping up in the law firm space and how will these departments help to meet the evolving market demands?Specific interview questions Tracey asked Chris:1. If a firm is looking to start a legal operations department, what are the key components?2. How does having a legal operations team increase efficiency? How does legal operations improve value for the client?3. Are there any tools your recommend to improve performance?4. What are the latest trends in legal operations? What departments are new?5. What are the biggest obstacles in growing the legal operations team?6. How do you justify additional headcount on the legal operations side?
Moderator:@Tracey Pardo - IS Improvement and Reporting Analyst, Cooley LLP 
Speaker: @Christopher Emerson - Chief Legal Operations and Innovations, Quarles & BradyRecorded on 04-08-2022

Understanding Information Governance: What it is and Why is it So Important

Information Governance…we hear this term all the time in legal, but what does it really mean? Is it referring to controlling the stream of information inside a law firm or law department, or outside one? And what methods are being utilized in today’s law firms and law departments to govern this often critical information?In this interview session, we will discuss what the term actually means and what effects it can have on firm attorneys and staff. Finally, we’ll learn why having an IG policy is so vital to clients and firms alike.
 
Moderator:@John Graves - Training Support Specialist, Winstead PC
Speaker:@Jeffrey Sharer - President and CEO, LexShift Recorded on 04-01-2022

Change Management In a Virtual World

Change management is a critical part of any successful project or initiative. With so much change happening both in the legal industry and in the world as a whole, a good change management program has never been more important, especially if your firm expects to continue with a hybrid work model into the foreseeable future.In this podcast, we’ll talk to Sharon Ford, Change Management Manager at Perkins Coie, about how to think about change management in a hybrid workplace.Questions that Holly will ask Sharon:1. Over the past two years, people have gone through a tremendous amount of change. Does the pace of change in the world at large impact how we talk about change internally to our stakeholders and end users?2. What are some aspects of change management that become more important when communicating with a hybrid workforce?3. What are some specific issues, or ‘gotchas’, that people involved in change management efforts may not realize will be problematic?4. A successful change management effort will always tailor the message to the audience. Has the way you think about different audiences changed in a hybrid environment?5. If you could provide listeners with one (or two!) takeaways for putting together a successful change management initiative in a hybrid environment, what would it be?Moderator:@Holly Hanna - KM Firm Solutions Manager, Perkins Coie LLPSpeaker:@Sharon Ford - Change Management Manager, Perkins Coie LLP 
​Recorded on 03-31-2022