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Our Guests

Melissa Prince serves as Ballard Spahr’s Chief Client Value and Innovation Officer and sits on the firm's Management Committee and Expanded Board. Melissa focuses on listening to client needs and understanding how each client's business operates in order to make the connection between value and innovation. She oversees the firm's Client Value and Innovation program, which includes more than 20 business professionals focused on creating a customized experience for each client.

Melissa is a frequent speaker, presenter, and author on legal operations topics. She recently launched the Ballard360 Insider blog, which is focused on delivering insights and best practices in legal operations. Under Melissa's leadership, the firm was named to the Financial Times' Most Innovative Law Firms Business of Law, an innovation "Mover and Shaker" by BTI Consulting, and a finalist for the American Lawyer Industry Awards in the best law firm/client team and best business team categories. 

Before coming to Ballard Spahr, Melissa held similar roles at two Am Law 25 firms. She is an attorney who, before leaving private practice, managed complex commercial litigation matters. She is a Six Sigma Green Belt, Certified Legal Project Manager, ALPP and ALPM.

Dan Pope is the Director of Strategic Pricing & Profitability at Ballard Spahr and oversees a team of pricing professionals that focus on using state-of-the-art tools and technology to gather and analyze information and evaluate the variables that drive cost. 

The team partners with firm clients to develop accurate cost-projections, customize pricing and value-based fee arrangements, establish goals and expectations, and identify preferences for cost efficiency, predictability, transparency, and value. 

Dan also leads an ongoing initiative to review the firm’s top clients to ensure firm profitability benchmarks are met. The program focuses on current arrangements, staffing, 

•   KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Innovation Philosophy: There is no innovation without adoption! When a new approach isn’t working, you need to be able to fail fast and rethink what you are doing. 
  • Competitive Intelligence: It's about giving clients something that they cannot find elsewhere. 
  • Regulating the Legal Industry: Change is coming and Law firms need to think more quickly and innovatively about how they are operating.

Andrew Jewel is the Senior Director, Strategic Pricing & Business Solutions at Seyfarth Shaw. Andrew works closely with Firm Department Chairs, the Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, and key members of the Finance team and leads the pricing and business side of Seyfarth’s Alternative Fee Arrangement (AFA) program.

Prior to entering the legal solutions industry, Andrew practiced law for nearly five years as a commercial litigation and antitrust associate at two AmLaw firms. He earned a JD, with honors, from The National Law Center at the George Washington University, where he was a member of the Journal of International Law & Economics, and a B.A. from Haverford College in Haverford, PA.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

•  Data & Risk Sharing Deliver  Successful AFAs.  Access to historical matter data and appropriate risk-sharing between law firms and clients are the building blocks for strong partnerships between law firms and their clients. 
• Beyond Revenue.  It’s more important to understand and measure the cost of delivery and profitability drivers of the work your firm is doing.
• Proactivity Matters Clients want firms that are efficient, know their business and deliver value without having to be reminded.

Gregory J. Kaple is the Senior Director, Legal Business Services, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Greg Kaple is a venturer and a strategist known for creating unique business models and solution delivery innovations for complex professional, technology, and services organizations. In his current role, Kaple is transforming the KFHP legal department’s service delivery model to provide affordable access to high-quality legal care.  Comprised of more than 80 attorneys, 170 total staff, and a combined annual budget of more than $150 million, the legal department is responsible for protecting KFHP’s $84 billion nonprofit business from risk in an age of unprecedented healthcare industry business and regulatory change. By focusing on core principles of transparency, collaboration, and infrastructure the department is reducing costs, enhancing the quality, and setting a new standard of value-oriented outcomes for KFPH’s members, community, and industry.

Kaple has lead strategy development for such companies as Time Warner, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Squire Sanders, and WilmerHale. His business ventures have included founding a professional service firm, a media production company, a cloud services provider, and a chain of high-end men’s barber clubs.  He has been a member of several University programs with West Virginia University and Ohio University where he created a breakthrough class on Entrepreneurial Sales. Kaple has a Masters Degree of Science in Telecommunications Management from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Ohio University.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Data is a Game Changer. Legal departments and their panel firms should work in partnership to improve the quality of their data to drive decision making. 
• Making it Easy. Communication tools like portals, reference guides, and focused training materials, help your panel firms to understand, digest, and comply with your Billing Guidelines. 
• Diversity is a Bigger Priority than Ever. A focus on diverse staffing, work allocation, utilizing the ABA diversity survey data enable, and a commitment to taking action. 

As the US Chief Pricing & Value Officer, Dwight Floyd and his team work with Eversheds Sutherland attorneys and clients to provide superior value by developing and implementing creative pricing and service delivery strategies.

Value is rarely increased through wholesale discounting or telling clients what they need but instead by targeting – actually asking – clients about their specific goals and what they want to achieve. Dwight works closely with attorneys and administrative staff to increase Eversheds Sutherland’s efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and innovation in a dedicated pursuit of delivering its client’s goals.

Dwight is a former litigation partner and a biologist who brings a different approach to some common challenges in the legal world. As in our natural ecosystem, he recognizes that everything in the legal ecosystem is connected to everything else. His challenge and goal is discovering and revealing to attorneys and clients how those connections can benefit and sustain everyone involved while still conserving resources

Dwight is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell and is an Accredited Legal Pricing Professional (ALPP) by the True Value Partnering Institute.

True Value Partnering Institute

Find out more about the ALLP accreditation and the True Value Partnering Institute, the premier educational network for legal pricing, project management, and innovation professionals. 

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Understand Expectations. It's the intangibles that make a successful pricing arrangement.
• Process Orientation. Technology can help package information in a way that is easily accessible to both the lawyers and clients.
• It's a Relationship Business. We will continue to see the growth of relationships between legal operations professionals in corporate departments and business professionals at law firms. 

Linda Novosel serves as Blank Rome’s Chief Innovation & Value Officer. In this role, Linda is responsible for driving the development of creative approaches to enhancing value and client service. Linda collaborates with Blank Rome’s attorneys and clients on designing customized service solutions that are cost-effective and efficient through a combination of people, process, and technology. In addition, Linda oversees strategic pricing and client value, practice innovation, data analytics, legal project management, and process improvement.

Linda has more than 30 years of experience in the legal industry and has held senior management positions at several other Am Law 100 firms where she was responsible for practice management, strategic pricing, legal project management, e-discovery, attorney and non-attorney staffing, contract attorney programs, and process improvement.

 A former practicing lawyer, Linda received her J.D., cum laude, from Widener University School of Law where she served as an editor of the Widener Journal of Public Law and was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society. She earned her B.A. in International Relations from Bucknell University.

Sharon Scenna serves as Director of Client Value at Blank Rome.  She collaborates with clients, attorneys, and firm leadership on value and innovation efforts that enhance relationships. Sharon develops pricing structures that address mutual needs and strategies to help clients manage their legal budgets. She advises on rate and compensation models, hourly rates, evaluating new business opportunities, and client retention plans. Sharon is a key member of the innovation team that leverages a combination of people, process, and technology to provide cost-effective and efficient solutions. 

Sharon has over 20 years of experience in the legal industry including serving as Director of Practice Management where she advised department heads and practice group leaders on business planning, revenue and expense management, paralegal and attorney staffing needs, and coordinated with various administrative departments. As Director of Business Development, Sharon oversaw the marketing and business development team, launched client team programs, and led the successful implementation of CRM.

Sharon earned an MBA from LaSalle University and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from King’s College.

  TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Innovation is better together. Innovation programs that encourage working in teams bring diverse ideas, creativity, and deliver better solutions.
• Help your clients shine. How can you help your legal department show they are not just a cost center but really providing an impact on the company’s bottom line?
• Leverage your data. Data is critically important to managing any pricing arrangement and providing transparency both internally and externally.

Welcome back to Frederick J. Esposito, Jr, MBA, CLM, Chief Operating Officer of the regional law firm Rivkin Radler LLP. Fred has more than 25 years of law and accounting firm experience and has been a Certified Legal Manager (CLM)SM since 2006.  Fred specializes in financial and organizational management and has managed and worked in a consulting capacity with several law firms, both international and domestic. Fred brings considerable “real world” experience to his role as a speaker and educator. Also, he is a senior member of the faculty and a consultant for the Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC. In May 2018, Fred earned a Yellow Belt Certification in Legal Lean Sigma® and Project Management and is working toward his Green Belt Certification.  

Fred recently published an article for the Legal Executive Institute "Process improvement & project management in the new “new normal” where he shares his views on why firms need to embrace fast-track process improvement methodologies. 

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• The pandemic is shining a light on process improvement. Now is the time to review what is working and what is not working.
• The crisis will bring opportunities. Firms will be reevaluating their business models, including their service delivery and business development processes, and these changes will impact the pricing strategy.
• Fostering client relationships. Efficiency, value, and focus work in equilibrium to strengthen the client relationship. 

Mike Milazzo is Kelley Drye’s Director of Strategic Pricing and is focused on delivering solutions to enhance overall client value and drive bottom-line performance for the firm.

With over 12 years of pricing experience, Mike works with the firm’s Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, and senior firm management on strategic and operational initiatives related to pricing, project management, and process improvement.  He consults with partners to develop appropriate pricing strategies and collaborates with clients and legal operations professionals to drive the development of creative pricing solutions to meet client needs and business objectives. Mike serves on the firm’s Client Value and Innovation Committee, is an accredited legal pricing professional (ALPP), and an active member of the True Value Partnering Institute organization – Law Firm Pricing Cohort.
 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Start with Empathy: Lawyers should be having human conversations with their clients. To develop genuinely symbiotic relationships means hurting when their clients are hurting.
• Understanding Client Needs: Sometimes you must sift through the weeds to understand your client's true needs. 
• Delivering Value. Clients are going to find value in firms that can help them anticipate what’s going to happen next. 

In this episode, we speak with Diversity Lab’s  Chief Intelligence & Knowledge Sharing Officer, Lisa Kirby, and Lelia Hock, Director, Legal Department Partnerships & Inclusion Initiatives to find out how Pricing, Innovation, Client Value, and Legal Project Management teams can help to prevent the potential negative impact of the current crisis on all the advances that have been made in diversity in the legal industry. 

Lisa Kirby, Chief Intelligence & Knowledge Sharing Officer at Diversity Lab. Lisa brings 20 years of experience in the legal profession to Diversity Lab. She has served as a practicing attorney, talent management professional, and law firm consultant. Lisa began her career as a litigator, practicing at two large law firms. She then spent several years as a professional development manager at Goodwin Procter LLP, where her contributions included helping to launch and lead the firm’s Women’s Initiative and developing a new parent coaching program. As a consultant with Edge International, Lisa advised a wide range of domestic and international law firms on strategic and talent management issues.

 At Diversity Lab, among many other duties, Lisa has led the creation and implementation of the needle-moving Mansfield Rule, now in its second certification year. She is a sought-after speaker who has been featured as a keynote speaker, presenter, and panelist on a variety of topics related to diversity & inclusion in the legal profession. Lisa also is a prolific author, having contributed articles on innovative ideas in diversity and professional development to publications like The American Lawyer, Law Practice, and Professional Development Quarterly.

Leila Hock, Director, Legal Department Partnerships & Inclusion Initiatives, Diversity Lab. Leila joined Diversity Lab with over 10 years of experience in the legal field, as a law firm associate, in-house counsel, and coach and consultant to law firms and associates. Leila began her career in the corporate practice at Mayer Brown’s Chicago office. She then spent three years practicing in the in-house legal department at Kraft Foods, supporting the global contracting needs of Kraft’s procurement and outsourcing teams. When the call of the mountains hit, Leila took a role as the first and only US in-house counsel for a global oil field services company in Denver, supporting all of the company’s US legal needs. Throughout her legal career, Leila supported a diverse legal workforce by creating and managing internship programs for diverse candidates and taking an active role in affinity groups for women and diverse counsel.

In 2015, Leila completed her professional coaching certification with the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and began a successful private coaching practice. Leila worked with several law firms and legal groups to develop professional development curricula geared toward business development and enhancing the “softer” skills required to advance in today’s professional world.

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Clients are doubling down on Diversity. Legal Departments are being more deliberate in the diversity data and metrics that they require from their legal service providers.
• Spotlight on Work Allocation. Ensure that diverse lawyers are doing career-advancing work and that  during this crisis cutting edge work is spread evenly across the firm
• You Can Make a Difference:  From scoping, staffing to matter management you can keep diversity front of mind and play a role in advancing diversity in your firm or legal department.

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Sergey Mezhiritskiy is currently a Senior Pricing Strategist with Proskauer Rose LLP in New York. Has been working in the legal industry for about 5 years. Before that, he was a Pricing Manager with Allens in Sydney, Australia and a Pricing Analyst with Debevoise & Plimpton in New York.

During his tenure with law firms, Sergey served as a trusted advisor to partners and firm leaders on pricing related issues such as rate negotiations, profitability optimization, and process improvements.

Sergey is an Accredited Legal Pricing Professional (ALPP) and holds a PRINCE2 Certificate in Project Management. He graduated in 2014 from the College of Staten Island School of Business with a degree in Economics & Finance.

Sergey held positions as a Financial Advisor with one firm and a Business Analyst with a different company before his move into the legal industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Its Time to Lead. Legal Pricing Professionals can play a significant role in designing creative pricing solutions that meet the needs of clients during this time of uncertainty without undermining the value that law firms bring to the table. 
• Understand your Key Profit Drivers. Discounting rates doesn’t always lead to more work as your competitors can easily do the same.
• Improving Data Quality. Historical data remains tricky but process management can help to ensure that current data being recorded and collected can be useful in the future. 

Stephanie Corey is a co-founder of UpLevel Ops, a consulting firm specializing in providing services for in-house legal departments and law firms.  UpLevel Ops provides a complete range of Legal Operations support, including IT solutions, Finance and Budget guidance, Talent Management and Development, Benchmarking, Best Practices and Metrics, and Outside Counsel Selection and Management.

Stephanie also founded and is a former executive member of the leading legal operations trade organization CLOC, Corporate Legal Operations Consortium.  She is a widely respected veteran in the Legal Ops field.

Most recently, Stephanie has served as the Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Legal Operations at Flex, the second largest manufacturing company in the world.  She has spent the better part of her career providing value-added services to Legal Departments, including building and deploying critical infrastructure to enable them to meet their business priorities.  Her areas of expertise include Information Technology, System Implementations, Process Analysis and Improvements, Finance, Communications, and Administration.

Stephanie Corey is a co-founder of UpLevel Ops, a consulting firm specializing in providing services for in-house legal departments and law firms.  UpLevel Ops provides a complete range of Legal Operations support, including IT solutions, Finance and Budget guidance, Talent Management and Development, Benchmarking, Best Practices and Metrics, and Outside Counsel Selection and Management.

Stephanie also founded and is a former executive member of the leading legal operations trade organization CLOC, Corporate Legal Operations Consortium.  She is a widely respected veteran in the Legal Ops field.

Most recently, Stephanie has served as the Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Legal Operations at Flex, the second largest manufacturing company in the world.  She has spent the better part of her career providing value-added services to Legal Departments, including building and deploying critical infrastructure to enable them to meet their business priorities.  Her areas of expertise include Information Technology, System Implementations, Process Analysis and Improvements, Finance, Communications, and Administration.

Stephanie began her career at Merrill Lynch in Pennsylvania, and after relocating to California, she worked at Bailard, Biehl and Kaiser, an investment firm in Foster City.  Once she decided to move into Corporate Finance, Stephanie took a position under the CFO, managing the Finance and Accounting Department at Provident Funding Mortgage Bank.

She later moved to Hewlett-Packard, where she was employed for eleven years as the head Legal Operations Manager, running a large IT and Finance Department.  Her most recent role at HP was Chief of Staff to the General Counsel, responsible for managing the daily operations of the Legal Department, working closely with the General Counsel and his reports to develop the strategy for the delivery of technology, finance, and administrative solutions.

 Stephanie holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Lehigh University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wilkes University.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Get the Data in Place. You need to understand what you are spending to be able to make educated pricing decisions. 
• Adopt a programmatic approach to outside counsel spend. Set your goals upfront and collaborate with your procurement team to help drive the process.
• Billing guidelines are a tool for conversation. Don’t take an adversarial approach rather use the guidelines as an opportunity to partner with your law firms. 

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Michael Katz is the Pricing & Data Analytics Director at Holland & Knight, where he pioneered the pricing function over four years. Key elements of the pricing program are partner education, matter budgeting, and tracking, RFP/pitch support, and one-on-one consulting on alternative fees and profit improvement.

His prior legal industry positions include Treasurer at Orrick, FP&A manager at WilmerHale, and Advisor at SB2 Consultants.  Prior to working in the legal industry, Michael held a series of financial management positions at McGraw-Hill, where he supported senior management of the information technology function and several publishing units.

Michael has an MBA in Finance, Rutgers University BA and an MAT, Binghamton University.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Find a good solution, as there is seldom a best solution! When creating fee proposals keep it simple and remain flexible.
• Wear your Marketing Hat! Ask open-ended questions, find out who else is bidding on the work and create pricing proposals that will help win the business. 
• Showcase Best Practice. Clients are asking for more information about law firm technology and legal process management. Use this as an opportunity to highlight how specific practices are differentiating their legal service delivery.

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

This week, we take a deep dive into Intersect 2020 which is the True Value Partnering Institute (TVPI) Annual conference, held in Miami in January.  You can also enjoy this video recapping the event. 

Our guests James Shoemaker and Steven Manton speak to us in their capacity as TVPI advisors. We explore highlights from the Intersect 2020 conference, including key takeaways from sessions on leadership, change management and resilience with a focus on the evolving role of the business of law expert. 

The True Value Partnering Institute is a legal industry think tank focused on professional development and thought leadership at the intersection of the practice and the business of law. The Institute has become the definitive community for senior legal business professionals - those responsible for delivering value inside and outside their organizations. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Peel back the onion. Good leaders know their weaknesses and use this self-awareness to improve their relationships within their team and the firm.
• Do you know what keeps the managing partner awake at night? Answering this question can help you break out of your pricing silo and get more involved in cross-functional projects across the firm.
• Avoid solution-jumping.  Change management requires that you take time to understand the problem or opportunity first and empathize with the end-user.
• Just breathe! Your ability to be a good leader, deliver value and manage change starts with a focus on mental health and well-being. 

James Shoemaker is an Accredited Legal Pricing Professional (ALPP) and certified legal project manager with nearly 20 years of industry experience.  In his current role as the Director of Pricing and Matter Management at Miles & Stockbridge P.C., he is responsible for setting pricing strategy, consulting with partners and clients on pricing solutions, and establishing a matter management framework of tools and processes to ensure efficient delivery of legal services.  This includes oversight for all the following functions: pricing, rate setting, legal project management (i.e., “matter management”), new business acceptance, and the establishment and maintenance of the required supporting systems and infrastructure for these functions.

A frequent speaker on the topics of legal pricing and project management, Jim’s core focus remains on maximizing the value of legal services by helping align the firm’s pricing and service delivery models with its clients’ legal needs and business objectives.

Steven Manton is a Pricing Director at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Steven is responsible for the creation and development of the firm’s pricing and legal project management function across all the firm’s offices.

Steven is a highly knowledgeable law and business graduate with a Masters qualification and twenty years of legal sector experience.  Recognized as a leading law firm pricing, practice optimization and profitability specialist who regularly teaches and publishes on pricing legal services and building the law firm pricing function.

Steven is active in the legal community and serves on the Advisory Council of the True Value Partnering Institute, a legal industry think tank and is also a member of the Research Advisory Board for the Client Value and Law Firm Profitability Report published by Jim Hassett Phd.

Adam Minielly is the Manager, Pricing at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, where he plays a key role in overseeing the firm’s pricing activities and operations, driving firm strategy related to the development, analysis, and implementation of creative, workable solutions in response to client pricing demands. 

Prior to Osler, Adam worked in roles in competitive intelligence and pricing at Dentons LLP, Blakes, Cassels and Graydon, and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Adam holds an undergraduate degree in political science and a Masters Degree in public policy. His graduate work examined how think tanks influence public policy. He has applied his social science training to his work in pricing to develop data-driven decision making. He recently presented Framing, Anchoring, and Data Biases - What influences pricing decisions? at the Buying Legal Conference.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• All data has a story to tell. Just because data is dirty doesn’t mean you can’t do anything with it, you need to dissect the data to understand what it's telling you. 
• Tackling data bias. Set up systems and processes to account for common data biases including sample, exclusion and observer bias. 
• Effective Scoping. Focus on the actual hours to completion of phases and tasks rather than anchoring on a fee amount.

Keith Maziarek is the Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, where he is responsible for building the firm’s formal pricing and legal project management functions.

Prior to Katten, Keith served as Senior Director of Client Value for Perkins Coie LLP, working closely with the client legal operations executives to develop collaboration strategies to improve operational efficiencies. Keith’s career in strategic pricing began at DLA Piper LLP, where he built the firm’s strategic pricing, profitability, and legal project management functions as the firm’s first Head of Strategic Pricing. He previously worked in strategic business development, helping establish a deep understanding of clients’ business needs.

Keith frequently speaks at industry events and publishes articles on related topics. He holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Data Analytics. Clients and law firms are collecting and analyzing different data – do you know what your clients are looking for?
• Pricing Predictions. Over the next decade, we will see an emphasis on defining and measuring the ambiguous concept of value, and also an increase in well-scoped retainer arrangements. 
• Optimization. For the next generation of lawyers (and clients), it’s not about precedent (what was done before) but how firms can be more proactive and efficient. 

Frederick J. Esposito, Jr, MBA, CLM, Chief Operating Officer of the regional law firm Rivkin Radler LLP, has more than 25 years of law and accounting firm experience and has been a Certified Legal Manager (CLM)SM since 2006.  Fred specializes in financial and organizational management and has managed and worked in a consulting capacity with several law firms, both international and domestic. Fred brings considerable “real world” experience to his role as a speaker and educator. Also, he is a senior member of the faculty and a consultant for the Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC. In May 2018, Fred earned a Yellow Belt Certification in Legal Lean Sigma® and Project Management and is working toward his Green Belt Certification.  

With more than 25 years of law and accounting firm experience, Fred is a thought-leader, frequent speaker, and author of articles on a wide-range of topics and best practices. He has been published on topics such as billing and collections, profitability, attorney compensation systems, alternative fee arrangements, process improvement, project management, and strategic planning by Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute blog, Law Practice Magazine, Law Practice Today and Attorney at Work, among others.  Fred is a highly-rated, frequent author and speaker for the ABA, ALA, BNA/Bloomberg, Lexis/Nexis, and Thomson Reuters. In the Fall of 2016, he became a Faculty Advisor and Presenter for the Nassau County Bar Association Academy of Law and in June 2013, he was inducted into the National Speakers Association.  

In 2012 he received the Association of Legal Administrator’s Outstanding Association Volunteer Award for his service as a leader and national speaker and was also named CFO of the Year by Long Island Business News. Fred was the first CLM on Long Island and from May 2013 – May 2016, was the Chair of ALA’s Certification Committee. 

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Legal Lean Sigma. Employing the principles adds a whole new dimension to achieving efficiency, client focus and value. 
• Telling the story with data. Identifying the obstacles and constraints in your process will help you understand what data you need to use to support your business case. 
• 2020 will bring a renewed focus on alternative fees that go beyond rates. Firms that focus on process improvement and project management will differentiate themselves in the next decade.

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Jessica Gichner is the Senior Director of Pricing & LPM Solutions at Pillsbury. She leads a team responsible for matter budgeting and monitoring, process improvement, legal project management, knowledge management, and technology solutions. She regularly collaborates with the firm's attorneys to develop solutions that are tailored to meet individual client needs, as well as provide transparency and predictability.

Jessica also has experience in matter management, business development coaching, marketing strategy, associate development, attorney staffing, and law firm women’s initiatives.

Prior to working in pricing and legal project management, Jessica worked as a practicing attorney at Waller Lansden Dortch& Davis LLP, where she focused on finance transactions, both as borrower’s counsel and lender’s counsel.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• As work becomes more commoditized, you need to consider how your firm can change the way the work is being done with processes or technology to match the price that the client and market will pay. 
• Share data with your clients. This enables clients to be part of the pricing discussion, evaluate pricing models and get a better understanding of the work you are doing for them.
• The most successful creative fee arrangements are simple, tailored and reflect the client's needs. 

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Jenny Brown is the Senior Manager of Strategic Pricing Husch Blackwell LLP. Jenny has over 20 years of experience in law firm accounting, including Strategic Pricing, Partner Compensation, and Financial Reporting and Analysis. While currently managing Strategic Pricing efforts, Jenny and her team also partner with Legal Project Management to develop optimal client service plans.

Jenny leads the annual rate-setting process, participates in developing creative pricing arrangements for clients, and is a consistent participant in client pitches and RFP responses. Prior to her current role, Jenny served as Controller at Welsh & Katz, Ltd. in Chicago.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Internal marketing increases lawyer engagement: Continued education and communication of success stories to your lawyers are central to your internal marketing efforts. 
• The evolving role of legal project management. Matter management is a key differentiator in keeping budgets on track and communicating changes with the client.
• Collaboration is key. Professionals in pricing, proposals and business development are working together with lawyers to scope and create deliver value pricing for clients.  

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Jim Foley is the Pricing and Legal Project Management Director at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, where he oversees the pricing, legal project management, matter analytics, business intake and conflicts areas.

He has extensive experience in alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), legal project management (LPM), matter budgeting, law firm financial management and financial analysis, and is a catalyst for change within the firm.

Jim joined the firm in 1995.  Prior to his role as pricing and legal project management director, Jim was the firm’s controller and a senior business manager. Previously he held roles as controller, accounting manager and analyst at various manufacturing companies.

Jim was recently Mayor for the town of Ashland, Virginia. He is also very involved with many local community groups and has coached a number of youth basketball and softball teams.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Incorporating profitability into the compensation system. Helps to create accountability and transparency for client matter profitability across the firm. 
• Becoming multilingual. There is a huge benefit to the firm when pricing, project management and analytics professionals understand each other’s language. 
• Alternative fees may be leveling off. The growth in AFAs has slowed and appears to be plateauing around a third of all work.  

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Purvi Sanghvi is the Director of Strategic Pricing at Paul Hastings, which has been ranked one of the five most innovative law firms by The Financial Times. She is responsible for creating the platform upon which pricing strategies are implemented across the firm globally. Her team oversees pricing management, develops and analyzes alternative fee arrangements, and creates budgets for complex client matters. She is responsible for pricing strategies for the firm’s top clients, often interacting with them directly as another face of the relationship. In all these responsibilities, she works closely with firm clients and partners to develop innovative, efficient, and results-oriented solutions.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Dealing with Data: Simplify your data. You need to tell the story of the numbers.  It’s important to understand the intersection between data, analysis and the client relationship and pulling this together to help move the business process forward.
• Alternative Fees: Invest time upfront in scoping and transparency discussions with clients so that all parties clearly understand the goals and expectations so that when things change (and they always do) its much easier to have that scope change conversation.
• Pick up The Phone! The connection that you make and the intention of what you are trying to do comes across more clearly. This makes email conversations that you have afterward so much more productive.

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

Kevin Vaarsi is the Director of Pricing at Fenwick & West, where he leads a team focusing on the development and execution of the Firm's pricing strategy. The team works closely with attorneys, professional staff and clients on creating value-based pricing arrangements and delivering transparency and predictability through legal project management.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

• Data Analytics: Historical data analysis play a key role in creating task-based budgets and enabling constructive scoping discussions.
• Alternative Fees. When scoping alternative fee arrangements, you need to understand and align with your clients on the gap between what is certain, what is predictable and what is unknown.
• No Surprises! Accurate budgets from the outset and robust matter management infrastructure focused on communicating accurate information to the lawyers and the clients help avoid surprises and keep matters on track. 

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.

In this episode, we speak with Toby Brown, Perkins Coie’s Chief Practice Management Officer. Toby leads the firm’s revenue management and efficiency programs, legal project management, pricing, process improvement, practice innovation, alternative staffing, and new partner integration. Toby has more than a decade of experience in practice management and pricing with Am Law firms and is the former director of the Utah State Bar.

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Opportunities for more pricing roles. Every firm needs this role and if your firm doesn’t have it raise your hand!
• Profitability Evangelism. The biggest impact pricing teams have in law firms is shifting the transparency and awareness around profitability. 
• Resourcing. Many pricing teams are overwhelmed. When asking for more resources focus on how your team’s work directly impacts the revenue and margin of the firm. 

To find out more about Digitory Legal please visit our website at www.digitorylegal.com.