Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Sean Bernstein, the co-founder of MinuteBox, a cloud-based minute book management service. We discussed the genesis of MinuteBox, how it is changing the way companies manage corporate minute books, the benefits of transitioning from a physical to a digital storage system for corporate records, the Canadian Legal Innovation Zone in Toronto, and where legal tech is headed in Canada.

I spoke with Eyal Iffergan, the president and CEO of Hyperion Global Partners, a consulting firm focused on legal business strategy and operations for the AmLaw 200 and Global 1000. We discussed the genesis of Hyperion Global Partners, how his team aligns the application of technology with consulting guidance, ways that the conversation about operational efficiency and innovation has changed in the past 10 years, and where the legal industry is headed.

I spoke with Dr. Marc Morant, the Head of Flexible Legal Resources at PwC Switzerland. We discussed the mission of PwC’s Flexible Legal Resources practice, where the company is implementing this approach, how it differs from other offerings, ways that the legal industry has changed that make the use of flexible legal resources so important, and the trajectory of the profession.

I spoke with Drew Amoroso, the founder of Move Associates, a company that focuses on professional development for lawyers. Prior to founding Move Associates, Drew was both a senior associate at a global law firm and a solo practitioner focusing on the fitness and health and wellness industries. We discussed the genesis of Move Associates, the programs it offers, how its approach reflects the changing nature of law firm training, whether students are embracing professional development in the same way that lawyers have, and how training and development is evolving in the legal community?

I spoke with Mark Ettinger, a vice president at Linguistic Systems, a language translation company. We discussed how his team performs translations, the technology it uses, its Relativity plug-in, whether neural translation technology can replace human editors, how clients are combining the two, and the challenges of remaining current with digital developments.

I spoke with Stevie Ghiassi, the co-founder and CEO of Legaler, an Australian legal technology company focused on advancing the delivery of legal services and expanding access to justice through blockchain technology. He is also the host of the LegalMeets podcast and president of the Australian Legal Technology Association. We discussed the genesis of Legaler, the state of legal technology in Australia, how Legaler is influencing access to justice, and the company’s token initiative.

I spoke with Anthony Crowell, the dean and president of New York Law School, which recently launched a Business of Law Institute and released a market research report called – The Business of Law: A Market Research Study to Explore Opportunities for New York Law School Students – which helped to support the new initiative. [Disclosure: New York Law School engaged Ari Kaplan Advisors to produce this new report.] We discussed the genesis of the Business of Law Institute, why it was important for the study to combine qualitative interviews, quantitative analytics, and student focus groups, the report’s key findings, its surprises, and how the law school’s new initiative reflects the trajectory of legal education and the profession.

I spoke with Rebecca Yoder, the director of legal technology for SpringCM, a contract lifecycle management software provider. We discussed her role at SpringCM, the adoption level of contract lifecycle management in legal, how SpringCM helps the CLM efforts of in-house legal teams, the distinction in CLM usage in buy-side and sell-side of contracts, and her advice for professionals interested in CLM.

I spoke with Stacie Neeter and Jim Mitchell, the co-leaders of the legal management consulting group at Stout, an independent advisory firm. We discussed the focus of the legal management consulting group, why legal management consulting has become so important, how technology is impacting modern law departments, ways that corporate legal teams are evolving, and the most significant trends that are driving change in the legal industry.

I spoke with Zelda Owens, the managing director of Attorney Placements for the Glenmont Group, a leading legal industry recruiting firm. She has served as director of Women in eDiscovery’s New York City chapter and as the chairperson of The Masters Conference, which just held an event in Manhattan. We discussed her role at the Glenmont Group, how the recruiting process has changed, how employment candidates can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market, the areas in which technology is displacing human talent, ways that law firms and law departments can build successful teams, and where legal recruiting is headed.