Posts By: Kevin Clem

As we emerge—hopefully soon—from the coronavirus crisis, organizations are celebrating what they have accomplished and reflecting on what they have learned in a year marked by dramatic challenges. Responding to the ever-shifting circumstances of a global pandemic demanded adapting continuously, keeping a watchful eye on current and future needs, and recalibrating technological tools and capabilities.

Last year was a maelstrom of change—which of course also swept up Legal Lab, HBR Consulting’s annual gathering of leaders from some of the nation’s top law departments and law firms. Rather than the two-day, in-person event that HBR usually hosts, last year Legal Lab turned into as a series of five virtual sessions across multiple weeks.

Traditionally, the legal industry has been reluctant to implement change; after all, lawyers adhere to a case law system built on hundreds of years of case precedent. To say that the industry has been plagued by change gridlock is an understatement.

Nothing ever stays the same, which means organizations that do not actively and correctly manage change may find themselves creeping downhill, gradually accelerating as the pace of transformation around them picks up. Fortunately, law departments have recognized that change management is a critical success factor in the face of increasing cost pressures. They are hard at work on change — but are they focused on the right areas to reap the greatest rewards from that change?

It was great to see so many friends at ILTACON in Orlando last week – it was an excellent opportunity to network, learn and have fun.

It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones at the recent Corporate Legal Operations (CLOC) Institute in Las Vegas, and to participate in the knowledge-sharing that is the event’s hallmark.

I had a clear message to deliver to those in attendance when I took the stage at this year’s International Legal Technology Conference (ILTACON): law departments are gathering, centralizing and sharing more data than ever, and many law firms are lagging behind. During the presentation, “Data Gathering and Sharing by GCs,” I was joined by Ron Katcher, director and senior corporate counsel at Qlik Technologies, and Paul Nicandri, chief service delivery officer at DLA Piper. We took a deep dive into how law departments and law firms are (or are not) using analytics, highlighted the disparities between law departments and law firms, and offered some suggestions to law firms about making better use of data analytics to bolster their relationships with clients. Here are some key takeaways from our session.

Last month, I had the pleasure of moderating an excellent panel at the Consero Legal Operations Forum entitled “Dashboards & Portals: Leveraging Existing Operational Investments for Greater Returns,” in Pasadena, CA.  My esteemed panelists included Scott Fuller from Applied Materials, Brian Pomeroy from Discover Financial Services, Elizabeth Miller from Dolby Laboratories, Julie Cremeans from Fair, and Emelita Hernandez-Bravo from Fitbit.  Each panelist brought a fresh perspective on how to best leverage data and analytics in a sophisticated law department. The audience consisted of the vast majority of the conference’s attendees and included legal operations professionals and practicing lawyers from approximately 80 different companies.

Last month, nearly a thousand members of the legal ecosystem from around the world came together at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas for the second annual Corporate Legal Operations Consortium’s (CLOC) Institute. This year’s four-day conference attracted nearly twice the number of attendees as last year’s conference, and once again featured content-rich sessions and numerous networking opportunities.