In-House Outliers (Brightflag)

Rosella Tibig, Operations Expert and CAPM at SAP, joins Alex this week to discuss her long career at SAP, the importance of empathy in legal ops, and how her experience working with law firms helped her to understand how best to work with Outside Counsel.

Electra Japonas, CEO and Founder of TLB, joins Alex Kelly on the podcast this week to discuss her incredible career journey, the differences between working for a firm and working in-house, and the proper way to approach legal technology to ensure you're getting the most out of your investment.

Electra also shared insights into the growth she has seen in the legal operations space, and how organizations can work to align the legal function with their own unique goals.

Laurie Ehrlich, Chief Commercial Counsel at Datadog, joins Alex this week to discuss how the prospect of tackling dynamic new challenges attracted her to her current career path. During their conversation, Laurie also touched on how she meaningfully connects with her team, and what makes for an effective manager and leader.

On this episode, Brandy Musick (Senior Manager of Legal Operations at Keurig Dr. Pepper) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her approach to implementing legal technology.

Brandy also shared insights from her career journey, and talked about the importance of e-billing for modern legal departments.

In this week’s episode, Alex interviews Sheila Dusseau, Head of Global Legal Operations at Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Sheila discusses how she got into legal operations and how her experience in finance has been critical to the success in her career. She also discusses why it’s important to make mistakes and how saying “I don’t know” has been a powerful piece of advice she has received in her career.

Recorded live at this year's CLOC Global Institute, this week's episode features Kshitij Dua, Head of Legal Operations at HashiCorp.

Kshitij joined Alex Kelly to discuss his observations about some of the panels he attended while at CGI, and share his thoughts on the future impacts of A.I. on the field of legal operations.

On this episode, Eric Greenberg (EVP, GC, and Corporate Secretary at Cox Media Group) joined Alex Kelly to share his thoughts on legal operations, strategic partnerships with outside counsel, and the career journey that led him to working in-house.

Eric also discussed how legal technology is shaping legal strategy, and his legal team's recognition by The American Lawyer's Corporate Counsel Awards.

On this week's episode, Christine Baer (Legal Operations Manager at the University of Cambridge) joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about her fascinating career journey, and what drew her to the field of legal operations.

Christine also shared insights into her own legal ops strategies, including how she works to maximize the capabilities of her organization's in-house legal team and ensure they're using their time as efficiently as possible.

On this episode, Martinique Aguero (Legal Operations Specialist at Zendesk) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her approach to improving legal department processes.

Martinique also shared her top resources for developing her professional skillsets, and discussed the skills from her time working as a paralegal that she has carried over into her legal ops role.

On this episode Michael Theise, Senior Manager of Legal & Compliance Operations at Biogen, joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about how the skills he developed working as a programmer, data analyst, and customer success manager ultimately set him up for success in the field of legal operations.

Michael also shared some of the biggest lessons he's learned to this point in his career, and discussed some of his observations about working in the legal ops space.

Andrew Stephens, General Counsel at MongoDB, joins Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about leadership, and the keys to forming meaningful connections with your colleagues. Andrew also discussed his thoughts about legal operations, why he enjoys working for growth stage tech companies, and the fascinating details of his career journey.

Tommie Ferreira, Director of Legal Operations at Peleton joins Alex on the podcast this week where they discuss her journey from paralegal to legal ops leader throughout her time at HBO, AMC, Rakuten, and Peloton and the lessons learned along the way.

In episode two, Alex interviews Tim Casey, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Numotion. Tim discusses his journey, sharing why he waited to go to law school and how self reflection and learning has been a tool that has helped him to build his career path in law.

On this episode, John Bennett (CEO and Founder of Melius Law) joined Alex Kelly for a discussion about the growth of legal technology, and how embracing legal tech can help in-house teams level up their capabilities while improving organizational leadership's perception of the legal function as a whole.

John also shared his observations about the differences between working for a law firm and working in-house, and how his ongoing passion for helping others become the best versions of themselves inspired him to start Melius Law.

In this episode, Alex interviews Don Keller, Founder of Joinder. Don shares the reasons he became a lawyer, the benefits Joinder has provided to legal teams, and some of Joinder's key accomplishments so far.

Alex is re-joined by our first ever In-House Outliers Guest, Stephanie Corey, CEO & Co Founder of UpLevel Ops. They chat about the return of in-person work, why more in-house legal teams are focusing on operations and how to build a winning business case for scaling your legal department

On this episode, Damier Xandrine (Chief Legal Officer at Tala) joined Alex Kelly to discuss the value that understanding an organization's financial situation can bring to an in-house legal team's ability to do its best work.

Damier also discussed her thoughts on the importance of the legal operations function, and shared insights from her career journey.

In the latest episode of the In-House Outliers "Live from CLOG Global Institute" series, Alex Kelly spoke with Lara Trope (Legal Operations Consultant at InnoLaw Group, PLLC) and Laurie David-Henric (Global Head of Operations & Strategy at Manulife) about their insights into the legal ops trends that caught their attention during CGI.

Lara also shared what triggered her initial interest in legal operations, and Laurie discussed her thoughts on the role of A.I. in the industry (with a surprise guest appearance from the great Jenn McCarron).

In this episode, Alex interviews Mary O'Carroll, Chief Community Officer at Ironclad. Mary needs no introduction, as she is a powerhouse in the legal operations industry. Mary talks about her career path and her advice for legal operations professionals to grow within the industry. She also speaks to what has driven the massive growth of legal operations today.

In-House Outliers kicks off its 2023 CLOC Global Institute podcast series with a live episode featuring Contentful's Director of Legal Operations Ashley Adams and Epiq's Senior Consultant Brenda Hansen.

Ashley joined Alex Kelly to discuss how she got her start working in legal operations, how she developed her expertise at public speaking, and her CGI presentation about the keys to building a legal ops function from the ground up.

Brenda shared her thoughts about some of the broader trends within the legal operations space, outlining important first steps for transforming an organization's approach to legal spend management. She also offered insights into her key takeaways from CGI, including her opinions on the future role of A.I. and other legal tech innovations.

On this episode, Legal Operations Leader Reeta Sharma joined Alex Kelly for a discussion about how pairing thoughtful process improvements with innovation legal technology can multiply the value that in-house legal teams can deliver to their organization.

Reeta also shared her thoughts on the use of AI tools for legal departments, offered advice to those starting out in the legal ops field, and talked about insights from her own career journey to the field of legal operations.

Tara Young, Deputy General Counsel at Plus Power, joins Alex this week to share some insights into her professional journey and the roles that ultimately led her to becoming an experienced in-house leader. Tara also imparts her advice on skillsets she acquired that were particularly beneficial in helping to level up her career.

In this episode, Alex interviews Zachary Rosenblatt, Legal Operations Senior Manager at The Kraft Heinz Company. Zachary discusses the career trajectory that led him into legal ops, the core areas of focus in his legal ops role, and the most impactful D&I projects he's worked on.

On this episode, André Barrow (Head of Legal Operations at FARFETCH) joined Alex Kelly to discuss how he applies project management principles to his work in the field of legal operations to change how legal work gets delivered.

André also shared his thoughts on the key priorities to focus on in a legal ops role, and discussed the importance of being part of a community while working in this industry.

On this episode, legal leader Kaylyn Nichols joined Alex Kelly to discuss her approach to process optimization, as well as what she views as the central pillars of an effective legal operations strategy.

Kaylyn also shared insights from her career journey, and discussed the transformative impacts AI will likely have on legal teams in the coming years.

In this episode, Alex interviews Jennifer McCarron, Director of Legal Operations and Technology at Netflix. Jennifer discusses her philosophy of success, responses to failure, and the importance of putting the work into working relationships.

On this episode, legal operations leader Nicole Arbiv joined the show to discuss how her accounting background helped facilitate her move into legal ops, and the projects she was most proud of spearheading in her legal operations roles.

Nicole also shared insights from her career journey, and how she's applied legal ops skillsets to her work in Customer Success.

In this episode, Alex interviews Dr. Sinead Kane, International Keynote Speaker on the topics of disability, law and policy. Dr. Sinead Kane shares her remarkable story into a career in law, the challenges that she faced, and what her internal motivators are that drive her to pursue her goals.

Recorded live at 2024's CLOC Global Institute, this episode features Stéphanie Hamon (Head of Legal Operations Consulting at Norton Rose Fulbright) and Kshitij Dua (Head of Legal Operations at HashiCorp).

Stéphanie discussed the path that led her to legal operations and her key takeaways from CGI 2024, and Kshitij talked about the benefits of embracing new learning opportunities in legal ops and setting clear professional goals.

In this minisode, Alex talks to Alison English, Legal Operations Manager at Rheem Manufacturing Company. Alison discusses her role at Rheem, why she came to CLOC 2022, and what she’s trying to achieve in the future for the legal function at Rheem!

Elizabeth Miller, VP and Head of Legal Operations at Marqeta joins Alex this week to discuss why her finance skills and inquisitive mindset have been an asset in her legal operations career.

In this episode, Alex talks to LaTrece Johnson, Head of Legal Operations at Palo Alto Networks. LaTrece shares how she got started in legal operations, her most impactful projects at Adobe, and her thoughts on the future of the legal ops community.

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

Eric Ortman, Senior Director of Legal Operations at BeiGene, joins Alex this week to discuss how legal operations can make a meaningful difference in the way organizations deliver life-changing products. During their conversation, they also touch on Eric’s early career path, and detail what it was like to work in the legal operations space when it was still in its infancy.

Ken Callander, Managing Principal at Value Strategies, joins Alex this week to discuss the options available to legal teams looking to transition away from hourly billing.

Lorna Khemraz (Lead AI Counsel at Legal OS) joined Alex Kelly on the podcast this week to discuss the ways that AI is poised to improve all facets of legal work.

Lorna also shared her thoughts on the major differences between working in-house vs. private practice, and shared insights from her fascinating career journey.

On this episode, Curt McDaniel (Chief Legal Officer at Ferring Pharmaceuticals) joined Alex Kelly for an in-depth discussion about how he went about implementing his organization's first legal operations role, and the importance of embracing new technological advancements in the field of legal work.

Curt also discussed the impacts of using data to spot inefficiencies, his career journey, and his passion for writing.

On this episode, Kristen Hart (Senior Paralegal, Corporate and Legal Operations at Vantage Risk Companies) joins Alex Kelly to discuss the challenges of establishing new processes within legal departments, and how strong communication between legal ops professionals and the General Counsel can help.

Kristen also shares insights from her own legal ops career journey, and how others in the industry can find opportunities to continue to grow professionally.

In the first episode of the new year, Alex is joined by Brightflag’s very own Chief Customer Officer, Kevin Cohn, to discuss his predictions for 2023.

In this minisode, Alex talks to Sharon Donnigan, Director of Legal Operations at Mighty Buildings. Sharon discusses what excites her most about legal operations, her thoughts on the legal operations community, and what she has learned from CLOC 2022!

On this episode, Michael Dineen (VP of Data Science at Brightflag) joins Alex Kelly to discuss the recent rise in the functionality of A.I. tools, and how legal teams are contending with it.

Michael also shares his thoughts on ChatGPT, how A.I. models work, and where generative A.I. might take the legal departments in the years ahead.

In this episode, Alex interviews Jamie Ingles, Legal Operations Lead at Stripe. Jamie discusses why she joined Stripe’s legal team, the most critical skill sets in a legal ops role, and how prioritization is critical to her team’s success.  

In this episode, Alex interviews Mateo Sanchez, Head of Legal Operations at Outside. Mateo discusses the highs and lows of his career, the importance of aligning with your Chief Legal Officer and why he joined Outside’s legal team.

On this special episode, Brightflag Co-Founder and COO Alex Kelly goes from host of the podcast to guest as he joins Brightflag Chief Customer Officer Kevin Cohn for a candid interview.

During his conversation with Kevin, Alex discusses his own career journey, Brightflag's early beginnings, his thoughts on the growth of AI and legal operations, and much more.

Adrienne Schaal, Director of Legal Operations at TIBCO, now Cloud Software Group, joins Alex to discuss the unconventional way she found herself in Legal Operations at GE and the differences between working on small vs large legal ops teams. 

On this episode, Chad Hallberg (Legal Operations Lead at Stripe) joined Alex Kelly to discuss the central pillars of the legal operations function, and Chad's approach to launching initiatives related to each pillar.

Chad also underscored the importance of leveraging spend management as a launching pad for other legal ops projects, and discussed his career journey.

On this week's episode, Connie Brenton (Founder of LegalOps.com, CLOC Founder and Founding CEO) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her remarkable career journey, the industry-wide impacts she's had on the field of legal operations, and the advice she would offer to those who are just starting out.

Connie also underscored the importance of using data to inform strategy, her approach to change management. and the upcoming Running Legal Like a Business Conference that LegalOps.com will be hosting in Las Vegas.

Wendy Riggs, Founder of SBO Consulting, joins Alex to discuss her role in helping Zynga, Twitter and Airbnb better leverage legal tech while rapidly growing their legal operations functions.

On this week's episode, Mandy Savoca (Legal Operations Technology Lead at Block) joined Alex Kelly to discuss how she approaches legal technology implementations to ensure that all the stakeholders involved are up to speed and satisfied with the solutions being offered.

Mandy also shared insights into the keys to evaluating software solutions, and the pivotal role that data plays in all the decisions that her team makes.

In this minisode, Alex talks to Lucy Bassli, Founder of InnoLaw Group. Lucy discusses her path from legal operations leader at Microsoft to founding her own consultancy, her beliefs on people and process while implementing technology, and what legal ops professionals can get out of a conference like CLOC!

Christine Uri, CLO, GC, and CSO at ENGIE Impact, joins Alex this week to discuss how to be a proactive business partner and advocate for your budget. They also chat about how a sustainability mission can help to avoid burnout.

On this special episode, Ian Nolan (Brightflag CEO and Co-Founder) joins Alex Kelly to reflect on Brightflag's incredible journey in celebration of the company's 10-year anniversary.

Ian also discusses the rise of legal ops, the value that A.I. brings to legal departments' functionality, and what's on the horizon for Brightflag.

On this episode, Savannah Ramsey (Senior Legal Operations Manager & Chief of Staff at Motive) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her "less but better" mindset and how it guides her legal ops strategies.

Savannah also shared insights into how her mentors influenced her professional journey, and discussed how legal tech solutions have increased the functionality of her organization's legal team.

On this week's episode, Legal Operations Leader Amy Brookbanks joined Alex Kelly to discuss her initial transition from in-house legal to legal operations, and the keys of developing a strong relationship with an organization's Finance team.

Amy also shared her thoughts on how to prioritize what the community is saying and what your business needs when developing a legal ops strategy, and explored some of the ways that access to data has transformed her work in legal operations.

On this episode, Legal Operations Leader Laurie David-Henric joined Alex Kelly for a discussion about the importance of creating your own career opportunities by seeking out professional challenges, and how that mindset helped her build out the legal operations functions in the various roles she has held.

Laurie also shared insights into how she has helped legal teams maximize limited resources through data, and the importance of cross-collaboration when working in legal ops.

Niamh Casey, Manager of Legal Operations at Checkout.com, joins Alex this week to discuss the importance of building a professional network, and how mentors can help you discover your full potential. Niamh also shared insights into the traits that make for a great leader in the workplace.

Susan Packal, Founder and Principal at High Desert Legal Ops, joins Alex for a conversation about the keys to being an effective leader and creating a strong team in the Legal Operations space. During the discussion, Susan also talked about the career path that led her from working in Human Resources to becoming a Legal Operations thought leader.

Stephanie Lamoureaux, Senior Director of Legal Operations at Live Nation joins Alex this week to discuss the importance of becoming a generalist in legal operations. Building transferable skills, and gaining exposure to other areas of the business in an intentional way.

Sheena Ferrari, Director of Legal Operations at Zendesk, joins Alex this week to discuss her career journey, the role of legal operations during uncertain financial times, and the importance of career agility and leaning on professional mentors.

In this mini-episode, Alex talks to Kshitij Dua, Head of Legal Operations at HashiCorp. Kshitij discusses how he found his way into legal operations, the importance of using empathy in his role and his major takeaways from CLOC 2022!

On this week's episode, Ashlyn Donohue (Director of Legal at LinkSquares) joined Alex Kelly to discuss how she leverages data to help develop processes and guidelines that make her legal team more efficient.

Ashlyn also shared her thoughts on how to optimize the use of legal technology, and underscored the importance of establishing processes and communication in the era of hybrid work.

On this week's episode, Jonathan Polk (General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Melio) joined Alex Kelly for a fascinating conversation about Jonathan's career journey, which led him from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to American Express and, ultimately, to his current role at Melio.

Jonathan discussed the challenges he overcame in transitioning to each respective role, and also shared his thoughts on the keys to professional success and the importance of finding gratification in the work that you do.

On this episode, Alisa De Dominicis (VP Global, Legal, and E&C Operations at Rimini Street) joined Alex Kelly to discuss the various skill sets—from project management to technology integration—that go into being an effective legal operations leader.

Alisa also shared insights into her career journey, and underscored some of the data that CEOs seek out from legal teams, as well as how that data is collected.

On this episode, Tiffani Huynh (Director of Legal Innovation, Technology, and Analytics at DHL) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her approach to process optimization, how she assesses legal tech providers, and how working for an organization that's known for efficiency informed her approach to legal ops initiatives.

Tiffani also shared her thoughts on the value AI can bring to in-house legal teams, and highlighted key learnings from her career journey.

On this episode, Victoria Swedjemark (Founder of Glowmind) joined Alex Kelly to discuss her professional experiences working in both business and legal roles—and how each function ultimately inspired her interest in exploring the legal operations and consulting field.

Victoria also shared her thoughts on how the legal ops mindset can evolve, and stressed the importance of legal leaders pushing the boundaries of what their teams can do.

Meyling Ly Ortiz, Managing Counsel of Labor & Employment at Toyota Motor North America, joins Alex Kelly this week to discuss the importance of developing true connections with colleagues, and how to effectively rise to meet daunting professional challenges. Meyling also touched on the impact that her mentors had on her own professional journey, and the path she followed to get where she is today.

In this episode, Alex interviews Bill Novomisle, Director of Legal Operations at Cresco Labs.  Bill discusses the path that led him to legal operations,  his core areas of focus at Cresco Labs and the best pieces of advice he has received in his career.

Charlotte Smith, Director of Legal Optimization at Level7 Legal, joins Brightflag's Alex Kelly this week to discuss the early career transitions that led her to where she is today, and the keys to developing a successful workplace culture.

What does it take to move from a career as a paralegal to a legal operations manager?

In this week’s episode, Alex sits down with Alison English, Legal Operations Manager at Rheem Manufacturing Company. Alison discusses her career path from paralegal to legal operations manager and the skill sets that helped her to move into this role. She also shares very helpful advice for any paralegal who wants to make the same transition.

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

In this episode, Alex interviews Liz Rancourt-Smith, Legal Operations Manager at Tilson Technology Management. Liz discusses early career lessons, the importance of making mistakes, and why she believes a non-traditional background has been her greatest asset.

In today’s episode, Alex talks to Heather Torres, Senior Legal Operation Manager at Sonnedix. Heather started her career as an attorney, but then when an opportunity into legal operations presented itself, she was intrigued and said yes. In this episode, you’ll learn about Heather’s current day to day in legal ops, how she develops a legal ops strategy, and her advice for anyone wanting to get started on this career path.

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

On this episode, Legal Operations Leader Sol Brody joined Alex Kelly for an in-depth discussion about the strategic initiatives that all legal ops professionals should implement when stepping into their roles.

Sol also shared his advice for those new to the legal operations field, and talked about his own professional journey from the world of global trade to legal ops.

In this first episode, Alex Kelly interviews Stephanie Corey, Co-Founder of Uplevel Ops and CLOC. You’ll learn from Stephanie about her successes and lessons learned in legal operations and what she thinks are the most important qualities to building a successful career in legal ops.

Nicole Clark, Co-Founder and CEO of Trellis, joins Alex this week to discuss how Trellis got its start, and some of the reasons that law firms are hesitant to adopt new legal technologies. Nicole also offers advice for those on the fence about transitioning careers, and reflects on the growth and challenges she’s experienced during her professional journey.

In this episode, Alex sits down with Jameson Monteiro, Head of Legal Operations at Assurant. Like most guests, Jameson didn’t have a linear path into legal operations. Jameson shares his remarkable story in which he started his career as an entrepreneur of an automobile export company. With determination and perseverance, that journey led him to a temp role at Assurant, and then ultimately, he was able to advance his way up to Head of Legal Operations.

In this episode, Jameson discusses the importance of building relationships and trust with your CLO, the most impactful thing in his career, and how he was able to find his career calling in #legalops.

Megan Ostling, Legal Operations Manager at iManage joins Alex this week to discuss how the path to legal operations isn't always a straight line, and how her career path began with sports law.

On this episode, Brightflag's Chief Customer Officer Kevin Cohn returns to share his annual legal ops and legal tech predictions for 2024.

Kevin also recaps his 2023 predictions, and offers insights into the role of A.I. within legal departments in the year ahead, what the future holds for legal operations hiring and compensation, and more.

On this week's episode, Cat Casey (Chief Growth Officer at Reveal-Brainspace) joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about her 18 years working in the e-discovery space, and how staying current on the ever-evolving technology landscape is pivotal to getting an edge in your career development.

Cat also shared her insights into the future role of A.I. in the legal space, and how emerging technologies like ChatGPT are transforming professional roles.

In this episode, Alex interviews An Trotter, Senior Director of Operations, Office of the General Counsel at Hearst. An shares with us how she landed in legal ops, the different areas of focus in her legal ops career, and her best advice for those who want to get started in the industry. 

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

In today’s episode, Alex interviews Mike Dineen, Director of Data Science at Brightflag about his unconventional path into #AI. In this episode Mike shares how his perspective on the legal industry before joining Brightflag and what interested him to work in this field. He also shares the impact that #AI is going to have on the next generation of lawyers and the 3 key pillars that he used to build out the data science function at Brightflag.

In this minisode, Alex talks to Evan Wong, CEO of Checkbox.  Evan discusses how legal teams are leveraging automation and technology, why he believes legal operations leaders are so important for driving change, and his major takeaways from CLOC.

On this episode, Ashlee Best (Founder of Compass Legal Operations and Wellness) joins Alex Kelly to discuss how her IT background led her on a very unique journey to the field of legal operations.

Ashlee also shares her thoughts on how legal tech can transform the legal ops function, and her goal of making health, wellness, and balance a focus for those working in the industry.

In this episode, Alex chats with Mike Haven, Senior Director, Associate General Counsel and Head of Legal Operations at Intel. Mike started his career as a lawyer, but then when an opportunity into legal operations presented itself, he took a leap of faith and never looked back. In this episode, Mike shares how he navigated the change into legal operations, his battle against perfection, and the key elements to building a successful legal ops program.

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

In this episode, Alex sits down with Tom Stephenson, Director of Legal Operations at Credit Karma. Tom discusses his path from paralegal to legal ops leader, how he structures his team and the principles behind it and his best pieces of advice to advance your career in legal operations.

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

In episode three, Alex interviews Mike Naughton, Vice President of Marketing at xMentium and a pioneer in the legal ops industry. Mike shares his path, discussing his early learnings while working with lawyers and the DNA that makes a forward thinking general counsel. He also discusses how to use other industries as inspiration to solve the major problems that legal ops professionals face today.

Katrina Gowans (CLOC Australian Chapter Co-Chair) joined Alex Kelly on the show this week to discuss some of the key challenges she faced when transitioning to legal ops from her previous role as a Senior Corporate Lawyer.

Katrina also provided insights on how best to illustrate the value of legal operations to legal leaders who are on the fence about implementing a legal ops function.

On this episode, Brent Dyer (Director of Legal Operations, Employment Law, and Litigation at Trend Micro) joined Alex Kelly to discuss how to identify the initiatives that will have the greatest impacts on your in-house team.

Brent also discussed how e-billing transformed his legal team's spend management capabilities, and shared insights from his journey into legal operations.

On this week's episode, Brooks Hall, Legal Operations Manager at Human Interest, joined Alex Kelly for an in-depth conversation about the career path that led her to the field of legal operations after previously holding Senior Paralegal roles.

Brooks also shared insights into the importance of embracing legal tech, and the transformative power of having true clarity into legal spend.

On this episode, La-Toya Hackney (SVP, General Counsel & Secretary at Saint-Gobain North America) joined Alex Kelly for a candid discussion about her amazing career journey, the importance of valuing diversity in the legal field, and her general philosophy when it comes to managing an in-house legal department.

La-Toya also shared her thoughts on the value that legal operations provides to a legal team, and underscored the importance of the various mentors she's had throughout her career.

On this episode, Bridget Franklin (VP of Legal & Compliance at Leaf Home) joined the show to discuss her experience navigating the transition from working at a firm to working in-house, how she's leveraged technology to gain greater visibility into legal spend, and her feelings on the growing role of AI within legal departments.

Helen Lowe, Head of Operations, General Counsel's Office at easyJet, joins Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about the importance of keeping a level head in any situation, and how a strong willingness to lend a hand is the mark of a good leader. Helen also shared insights into her own professional journey, and how her early-career experiences helped strengthen her ability to crystallize information and easily identify solutions to whatever challenges come her way.

Recorded live at 2024's CLOC Global Institute, this episode features Timothy Melchior (Trane Technologies) and Tom Rice (TravelPerk).

Timothy dove into the key pillars he prioritizes when executing legal ops initiatives, including how he works to create a lean legal function. And Tom shared his insights on the rise of AI tools and how they're transforming legal work.

In this episode, Alex sits down with Tiffany Brown, an experienced legal operations leader. Tiffany started her career as a paralegal, but quickly her fascination and curiosity led her to a career in legal operations. In this episode, Tiffany shares her thoughts on networking, the necessity of “turning off” on a global team, and the lasting impact of the pandemic on the adoption of legal operations.

On this episode, Jeremy Hopkins (Director of Legal Operations at Contentsquare) joined Alex Kelly to discuss the most effective ways for legal operations leaders to implement change and garner support for new initiatives from the organization's legal team.

Jeremy also shared his thoughts on the future role of generative A.I. on the legal profession, and discussed how his work as a former barristers' clerk prepared him for some of the challenges of working in legal ops.

On this episode, Stano Gejdos (Global Category Manager at Syngenta) joined Alex Kelly for a discussion about the key learnings Stano has applied to legal operations from his experience working in procurement.

Stano also shared tips for implementing alternative fee arrangements, and discussed the importance of evaluating the ROI of all the legal department's processes to improve cost savings and efficiency.

Recording live in Las Vegas during CLOC Global Institute, Alex Kelly was joined by Liz Lugones (COO & Senior Advisor at UpLevel Ops) and Mary Zolene Agbovi (Director of Legal Operations at CoverMyMeds) for this episode.

Liz discussed her thoughts on the importance of building a business case for investments in legal ops, and Mary detailed her experience building out her professional network from the ground up. Both this week's guests also shared their biggest takeaways from the sessions they attended during CGI.

Recorded live at the 2023 CLOC Global Institute in Las Vegas, this episode features special guests Denise Doyle (Managing Director of Legal Operations, modCounsel) and Farrah Pepper (Chief Legal Innovation Counsel, Marsh McLennan).

During her conversation with Alex Kelly, Denise shared some key advice for legal ops leaders that are in the early stages of developing their organization's legal operations function, and spoke on how law firms can collaborate more effectively with their clients.

Farrah stopped by to share her insights on the importance of saying "yes" to new professional challenges, and traced her career journey to legal operations. She also spoke a bit about how she worked her way up to becoming CLOC's current Vice President.

Recorded live at CLOC Global Institute, this episode features legal leaders Jason Winmill (Argopoint, Buying Legal Council) and Katrina Gowans (IFM Investors).

Jason underscored the importance of engaging with the community as a legal ops professional, and talked about how to navigate obtaining resources for your legal team.

Katrina discussed her approach to finding the right pace when implementing change for the in-house team, and touched on her observations about the impacts generative AI tools are already having on legal work.

In this episode, Alex interviews Aline Bosteels, former Global Category Director Legal Services & Insurances at Philips. You’ll learn how Aline's career evolved from entrepreneur to procurement manager, why lifelong learning is an addiction of hers, and the most important skill sets to be successful in a #legalops role.

In this episode, Alex chats with MaryBeth Blair, Director of Legal Operations & Lead Counsel at Coursera. MaryBeth discusses how she has used legal technology to utilize data to make better financial decisions. She also discusses why she went to Coursera and her core areas of focus in leading the legal ops function there.

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops

In this week’s episode, Alex chats with Dave Evans, Head of Legal Operations at Nextdoor. Dave discusses why he got started in legal operations, how he aligns with his general counsel, and practical advice for legal operations professionals to excel in their career.

Liked what you heard on today’s episode?

Connect with Alex here & follow us on Linkedin.

Top Previous Episodes…

👉Creating a Legal Ops Community at CLOC with Stephanie Corey

👉Leading an Innovative Legal Operations Function at Netflix with Jennifer McCarron

👉How VMWare’s Aine Lyons Found Her Calling in Legal Ops