Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data

Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii About the authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 By Olga V. Mack, fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and Generative AI Editor at law.MIT Computational Law Report, Humira Noorestani, visionary founder, DigiCounsel, and MbaMemme Onwudiwe, EVP legal and business intelligence, Evisort The LegalOps 2.0 Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 LegalOps 2.0 Framework – the ISSUe model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Diving deeper into the ISSUe Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1. Identify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3. Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 4. Utilize effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 LegalOps 2.0 Approach to law firms and corporate legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Applying ISSUe to the CLOC core competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Three additional focus areas of LegalOps 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Our mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 PART ONE: TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 By Paul Levy, senior consultant, Jameson Legal Tech Chapter 1: Automation in legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 By Tara Emory, senior vice president of legal AI strategy, Wilzette Louis, director of client solutions, and Adam Poeppelmeier, director of e-discovery at Redgrave Data, and Kassi Burns, senior attorney at King & Spalding, LLP Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Automating administrative functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Automation of legal research tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Automation of document drafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Automation of e-discovery tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Automated e-discovery processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Automation of reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Challenges and risks of automated systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Chapter 2: Revolutionizing legal operations with GPT – the power of AI in the legal industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 By Tom Dunlop, founder and CEO, Summize Automation in legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Getting rid of“legal jargon” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Enhanced research capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 More accurate decision-making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Increased accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Generative AI and the future of legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Will Gen AI replace humans? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Legal operations and Gen AI – the future is bright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Chapter 3: Leveraging AI and data in financial management for legal operations leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 By Jake Sussman, chief operating and product officer, Evisort Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Utilizing e-billing tools for enhanced invoice management . . . . . . . . . 56 Contracts as data – a paradigm shift in financial management . . . . . . 57 Chapter 4: The Sherlock Holmes of legal operations – using business intelligence for law firm efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 By Nipun K. Bhatiaa, CEO, Legal League Consulting Business intelligence – the skill of extracting value from complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Unlocking the power of resource allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The ally of efficiency – achieving more with less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 A radar that helps you detect and respond to risks and opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Transforming operations from reactive to proactive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Business intelligence for intelligent business – dial P for Profitability! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Keep your friends close, your competitors closer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The powerful AI-BI combination – a match made in heaven? . . . . . . . . 66 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Chapter 5: AI and privacy – balancing technological potential and protection of personal data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 By Monika Kwiatkowska, senior commercial counsel, Zscaler, Inc., and Humira Noorestani, visionary founder, DigiCounsel Safeguarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Use it wisely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Consider liabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Next steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Chapter 6: The Brazilian Supreme Court’s AI-driven journey to a 100 percent digital judiciary system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 By Caroline Francescato, lawyer, founder of LinkLei, and professor of law and technology Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The use of artificial intelligence in the Brazilian justice system . . . . . . 78 Incorporating artifical intelligence in the courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Artificial intelligence and Brazilian law firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Final considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Chapter 7: Technical debt – the hidden cost of law firms’ digital transformation journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 By John Lindsey, InCite LegalTech The concept of technical debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Law firm applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Procrastination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Metrics for measuring technical debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Strategies for managing technical debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Chapter 8: Powered by AI – shaping tomorrow’s workforce . . . . . . . . . . 95 By Natalie Pierce, partner, and Stephanie Goutos, practice innovation attorney, Gunderson Dettmer AI uses for employers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Potential concerns and responsible implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Equipping the workforce for a future with AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Chapter 9: Using AI and data to support vendor management . . . . . . . 109 By Amine Anoun, chief technology officer, Evisort Collecting and centralizing a single source of truth vendor agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Leveraging AI software tools and resultant data to reduce costs . . . . . 110 Negotiate better and faster with vendors moving forward . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Chapter 10: Understanding the relationship between legal operations and legal technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 By Colin S. Levy, legal tech author, speaker, and director of legal for Malbek Technological integration and automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Standardization of legal processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Data-driven decision-making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Enhancing collaboration and communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Defining legal operations and legal technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Enhancing process improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Boosting legal research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Enhancing data and matter management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Optimizing e-discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Strengthening contract management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Chapter 11: One general counsel, two federal investigations, and an absence of legal technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 By Tara Trantham, RISE Legal The story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The plot twist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 How the story could have gone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 The lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Chapter 12: How legal operations teams should evaluate AI solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 By MbaMemme Onwudiwe, EVP legal and business intelligence, Evisort Evaluating AI powered tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Steps to evaluate AI and make sure it’s not“two eyes” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Why is this important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Chapter 13: Unlocking the power of KPIs – a guide for law firms . . . . . 129 By Gary Miles, The Free Lawyer What are KPIs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Why should a law firm use KPIs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 What are possible drawbacks to utilizing KPIs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 What are important KPIs to measure? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 What is the process for utilizing KPIs in the law firm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Chapter 14: The importance of metrics in legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . 135 By Sana Virani, contract consultant Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Matter management and internal workload metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 External counsel evaluation metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Metrics around litigation avoidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Turnaround time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 PART TWO: PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 By Tanisha Minev, legal counsel, Yoco, and Humira Noorestani, visionary founder, DigiCounsel Chapter 1: LegalOps 2.0 and the CLOC Core 12 – the “Identify” stage through integrating clients into legal teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 By Fatima M. Bolyea, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Objective #1: Obtain knowledge (LegalOps 2.0 – “Identify” phase) . . . 146 Objective #2: Preserve knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Objective #3: Retain and analyze knowledge (LegalOps 2.0 – “Structure” and “Shape” phases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Best practice #1: A successful first meeting with your client . . . . . . . . . 147 Best practice #2: A comprehensive timeline and supporting documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Best practice #3: Your internal review of the clients’ documents . . . . 154 Best practice #4: Ongoing client involvement during motion practice and discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Best practice #5: Integrating your client into trial preparation . . . . . . 156 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Chapter 2: Shred those documents (periodically, systematically, objectively, defensibly, legally, and ethically)! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 By Jeff Cunningham, law firm general counsel, MGC Law Record retention basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 RRP logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Chapter 3: Litigation management and the six Ps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 By Brewster Rawls, Rawls Law Group Lessons to live by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Chapter 4: Model retention guidelines for external counsel – best practices for successful law firm relationships . . . . . . . . 169 By Son Tran, chief legal advisor, TTC Group Setting budgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Contact for relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Billing requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Litigation/early case assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Consider alternative dispute resolution early and often . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Alternative fee arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Chapter 5: Winning at the new game – a blueprint for business strategies for law firms in the post-pandemic era . . . . . . . 175 By Yavanika Shah, legal business specialist, IndusLaw What has changed in the post-pandemic era? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Meeting clients’ expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Remote work vs work from office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Embracing technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Focus on client experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Prioritize diversity and inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Crisis management plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 A blueprint for change – case studies of successful law firms in the business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Chapter 6: The art of vendor management for legal operations . . . . . . 183 By Navin Mahavijiyan, head of legal operations, Modernizing Medicine Vendor and supplier selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Vendor contract intake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Reviewing and negotiating contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Renewing contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Chapter 7: A gigabyte of work – information governance in a world of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 By Dan Cotter, member, Dickinson Wright PLLC Inventory, inventory, inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Know where the data skeletons are buried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Know what type of information is in the inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Survey the field of workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Develop or revise the policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Litigation holds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Staging up an information management program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Remember, compliance is all about the PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Chapter 8: Contracts management planning – how to optimize processes and lift your organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 By Olga V. Mack, fellow, CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and Generative AI editor, law.MIT What is contract management planning? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Traveling the CMP path in four steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Step 1: Set your contract management planning goals and strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Step 2: Articulate the value of CLM technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Step 3: Assemble your contract management planning team . . . . . . . 201 Step 4: Identify your contract management plan’s KPIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Planning is prevailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Chapter 9: Recipe for success – how legal knowledge management drives business forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 By Jenna Sanz-Agero, of counsel, Business Affairs, Inc., and advisory board member, xMentium, Inc. Identification and capture of relevant knowledge that is ongoing, preferably automated, and scalable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Organization and storage of knowledge so that it is easily accessible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Distribution and sharing of knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Use and application of knowledge to improve business processes and decision making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Continual assessment and improvement of the knowledge management system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Tying KM to core legal operations competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Chapter 10: A beginner’s guide for in-house legal counsel navigating legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 By Tanisha Minev, legal counsel, Yoco What is legal operations, really? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Pillar one: Organization and elimination of waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Pillar two: Reducing costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Motivating for budget for technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Pillar three: Optimizing time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 The importance of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Chapter 11: Law firms as a business – a modern approach . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 By Owen McGrann, resident troublemaker, McGrannLAW LLC The economics of the billable hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Trusted advisors and intellectual capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Does this sound uncomfortably close to how “normal” businesses are run? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Chapter 12: The impact of a strategic legal plan on business partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 By Sara Ajmi, legal operations expert Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 In-house legal function and business goals – the perfect mismatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 The importance of a strategic plan for in-house legal departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Seizing the opportunity – a call for strategic clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Chapter 13: All for one and one for all – how to win M&A battles in private practice and in-house environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 By Ruslan Sulaimanov, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Group Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Cross-functional alignment – a symphony in motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Fortifying unity with technology and artificial intelligence . . . . . . . . . 242 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Chapter 14: Unlocking legal operations’ digitaltransformation through ALSPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 By Maryam Salehijam, PhD, client account executive, Axiom Law ALSPs vs law firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Advantages of ALSPs for legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Unlocking enhanced efficiency and flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Chapter 15: Building IP processes for multinational corporations and start-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 By Chitra Sahay, legal manager, Barcode Entertainment Suggested multinational corporations IP processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Suggested start-up IP processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Relevance of intellectual property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Why companies should safeguard their creative production . . . . . . . . 255 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 PART THREE: PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 By Laura Jeffords Greenberg, senior legal director, Worksome and AI consultant at LEGIT Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Chapter 1: How legal turns business teams into LegalTech champions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 By Chad Aboud, founder and principal, Chad Aboud Consulting My journey to LegalTech implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 An impactful win that’s not impossible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Sourcing potential vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Evaluating as a team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Selecting the LegalTech provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Planning implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Testing the work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Launching Version 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Refining (forever) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Chapter 2: The modern legal department – cultivating an AI-ready mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 By Suzi Hixon, trademark attorney The importance of an AI-ready mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Understanding AI’s (current) capabilities and limitations . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Embracing the unknown and fostering a culture of innovation . . . . . 270 Learning from failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Enhancing efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Banishing burnout and achieving work–life balance with AI-driven solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Automating routine tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Improving time management and prioritization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Enabling flexible working arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation . . . . . . . . . . 274 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Chapter 3: The vital role of the legal operations function in utilizing DEI data analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 By Flo Nicolas, founder and chief innovation and data strategist, Get Tech Smart The legal diversity challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Diversity beyond race and gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Understanding employee sentiment through data analytics . . . . . . . . 281 Breaking barriers – gender pay equity and promotions data . . . . . . . . . 282 Leveraging data analytics for job applications, vendor contracts, and exit interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Data-driven monitoring – job applications, supplier bids, and hiring processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Legal operations’ impact on contract language inclusivity . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Mitigating litigation risks with DEI data analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 From data to action – leveraging DEI insights to make meaningful change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Chapter 4: Ten questions a legal team should ask itself if it is serious about diversity, equity, and inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 By Niti Nadarajah, freelance general counsel, empowerment coach, and DEI consultant QUESTION 1: Where does responsibility for DEI lie within the organization? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 QUESTION 2: What do we do to demonstrate our commitment to DEI internally? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 QUESTION 3: What can we learn by examining the similarities and/or differences between team members, including new hires? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 QUESTION 4: Who does our culture support and who does it disadvantage? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 QUESTION 5: Do our actions demonstrate that we take accountability seriously across our organization? . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 QUESTION 6: How psychologically safe do people feel within the team? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 QUESTION 7: How do we ensure we hear everyone’s voice and opinions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 QUESTION 8: What criteria do we use for assessing talent and progression? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 QUESTION 9: Are there any patterns in our employeeturnover data that indicate more can be done to support our people? . . . . . . 298 QUESTION 10: What actions do we take to support DEI within the legal profession and society as a whole? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Chapter 5: Practical tips to create inclusive legal teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 By Cathy Nestrick, American Bankers Association What is inclusion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Benefits to inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Strategies to foster inclusive practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Chapter 6: From dinosaur to data(connoi)sseur – how to harness data to achieve favorable litigation outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 By Shari E. Belitz, chief executive officer, Shari Belitz Communications LLC History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Changing times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 A new direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Chapter 7: Dance of the data dragons – e-discovery for legal operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 By Cat Casey, chief growth officer, Reveal Brainspace What is e-discovery and why should legal operations professionals care? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 The dancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Vanquishing e-discovery foes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Data sources more and varied than the seven kingdoms . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 The dual-headed dragon of privacy and data security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 More costly than a loan from the Iron Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Legal operators – an e-discovery knight in shining armor . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Forging powerful alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Becoming an e-discovery maester for your company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 E-discovery as legal operations’ moment in the sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Winter is coming – be prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Chapter 8: Legal party of one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 By Elina Cohen, general counsel, QuickNode Be a friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Draw the line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Chapter 9: A learning curve – the training, development, and education of legal technology and legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 By Harry Borovick, general counsel at Luminance, external lecturer at Queen Mary University London, and visiting lecturer at the University of Law Why do lawyers learn, and why does what lawyers learn matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 How do lawyers learn? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 How and what will lawyers learn? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Practical steps to improve legal education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 What’s next for legal education? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Chapter 10: The importance of simple, easy, and effective communications in legal operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 By Jeffery A. Kruse, founder, Key Legal Operations Consulting LLC (KLOC) Clear communications are the keys to success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 SEE communications can help legal operations teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 SEE communications can be a useful guide for legal operations teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Chapter 11: Why lawyers should not be doing your project management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 By Amr Jayousi, senior associate, Sanchez & Amador LLP A lawyer’s biggest asset is in his/her lawyering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Lawyers are not trained in project management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Most legal operations projects do not need a lawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Most legal departments have too many lawyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Most legal departments have too few legal operations professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Chapter 12: Unlocking your legal team’s potential – the role of legal operations in training and development . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 By Robert Hanna, founder and managing director, KC Partners Resources for new hires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Existing employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Attracting new talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 People, process, and technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Chapter 13: Leveraging your personal brand online to match your reputation offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 By Viveca Hess, HessConnect How do you build that brand – your digital twin? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Personal branding defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 Self-discovery and assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 Defining your niche and target audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Crafting your consistent and compelling online profile and presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Networking and building relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Chapter 14: The power of authenticity in law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 By Hannah Beko, head of mission, Legal Studio What is authenticity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 How can we become more authentic in our everyday working life? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Chapter 15: Asynchronous communication and AI – a powerful duo to supercharge performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 By Laura Jeffords Greenberg, senior legal director, Worksome and AI consultant at LEGIT Understanding asynchronous and synchronous communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 Superpower legal operations with asynchronous communication and AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Practical steps and best practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 About Globe Law and Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367