The Legalpreneurs Sandbox – Details, episodes & analysis

We’re back for our sixth year and what a year it has been for legaltech, AI and innovation!

If 2023 was the year to figure out what generative AI was all about, then 2024 was most definitely the year for pilots, experimentation, and strategies for data and AI. Well, that was how it went for some, but not everyone…

In this, our annual year in review, we discussed what happened and where the dust settled in 2024 with Caryn Sandler, Partner and Chief Knowledge & Innovation Officer at Gilbert + Tobin and Co-chair of the CLI Advisory Board; Graeme Grovum, Head of Legal Technology and Client Services at Allens and Host of CLI’s Legal Ops Clinic in 2024; and Tessa van Duyn, CEO and Practice Leader at Moores and member of the CLI Advisory Board.

We started this session by discussing the discernible shift in mindset during 2024 from questioning if the legal industry should engage with generative AI, to embracing it as well as understanding and learning how to manage its issues – we collectively reached a new level of AI maturity! 

As we dug deeper on impacts, we identified some key changes enabled by AI, particularly generative AI, to the business and practice of law this year, including:

• Non-negotiable “must haves” for the tech – easy to use, convenient, clearly identifiable benefits.
• New levels of tech engagement – GenAI creates a space where “personal life meets professional life” and consequently its uptake has been faster and at an unprecedented scale. 
• Redefining collaboration – different partnerships, different interactions, different client engagements, emerging coalitions of competitors working and learning together, all focused on building a strong legal ecosystem that delivers on the potential, promises, and opportunities of generative AI but also knows how to manage its challenges.
• Redefining legal work - from conception to delivery and everything in between.
• Redefining value – what matters most, authenticity or efficiency and, are they the only choices? Where does pricing and billing by the hour fit into all of this?
• Redefining capabilities for practice – meeting people where they are so they can work out where they need to go together and individually.
• Redefining metrics – are we measuring impact or use or something else? Are metrics the same for this tech for all its uses? We need to know if the investment in the tech is moving us forward, or not, but it may be well into 2025 before we work this one out.
• Redefining employment and workforce – employees are now in search of digitally enabled employers and employers in search of digitally and data literate employees. Is going to a law firm or legal department that is not tech-enabled now a career-limiting move? What will that do to the legal workforce?
• Embracing capabilities where you find them, not where you expect them – making the tech available to everyone can result in an expansion of roles, new roles, and uncovering tech-related capabilities that enhance careers and your workforce where they may have otherwise remained hidden.
• Understanding that the pace and scale of change is now a constant and must be proactively managed. We need to understand the human consequence of this i.e., unparalleled change fatigue and the need to focus on human wellbeing more than ever before.

And, Graeme demonstrated his interactive avatar too – we all want him to build us one!

We wrapped with what will come next in 2025. Will ops teams lead the way? Will our humanity and creativity be best explored through play? Will a growing sophistication in how we use GenAI, especially by clients, reinvent the B2B, B2C and D2C markets?

Thank you sooooo much Caryn, Graeme and Tessa – this is a session we look forward to every year and we’re certain you will too – don’t miss this one! 

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here.

About the Future 50 Series

In the Future 50 Series, we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world.

If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.

In this session, we spoke with Mark Williams, a Founding Co-Director of the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab (VAILL) and a Professor of the Practice of Law at the AIGP.

Mark has come to AI via journalism, law, sometime in the political world and knowledge management. In many respects, his work now draws on that rich professional and personal life experience.

Today, Mark is deeply immersed in working with and educating future generations of lawyers through the AI Law Lab. The Lab is a hands-on, multidisciplinary, experiential learning opportunity at Vanderbilt Law School (VLS).

The VLS AI Law Lab is preparing law graduates for the next generation of legal practice and leadership. It’s modelling a different way of teaching and learning in partnership with industry - one that is comfortable with experimentation and supports students in understanding the tech, its limitations and opportunities, from the ground up.

VLS’s has a long history in transformative legal education, especially in the tech/AI space. We chatted with Mark about that too i.e., what drives VLS’s leadership, mindset, and comfort with embracing new, different, and supporting their graduates to do that too…their secret sauce!

We wrapped this conversation by discussing the broader impact of AI education in the legal industry - the importance of digital and data literacy and, if we have arrived, or still edging towards, a different type of legal practice. 

Don’t miss this spotlight, if you haven’t engaged with AI before now, this will be your catalyst to start your journey today!

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here.

About the Future 50 Series

In the Future 50 Series we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world.

If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.

In this session, we spoke with Jean Yang, the VP and Co-founder of Onit’s AI Center of Excellence. The Center is a note-worthy offering from a software vendor. Jean’s journey to Onit seems like it was a natural progression. A former practising lawyer from New Zealand, she has spent most of her career so far (there’s lots more still to come) at the leading edge of AI in legal and, that has now taken her to Onit in Austin, Texas.

Our discussion focussed on the application of AI in legal - how much that has changed this past year; emerging trends in AI uptake; whether it’s realistic to expect definitive use cases right now; and the challenges, opportunities, needs, expectations and reality of the tech becoming pervasive/BAU in the legal world next year or maybe later - it’s hard to look too far ahead in this space right now but we did a little AI crystal ball gazing!

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here.

About the Future 50 Series

In the Future 50 Series, we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world.

If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.

In this podcast, a session in our ReinventED Legal Business: The Case Studies series, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific) chatted with Sarah Rey, Managing Partner and Melissa Scadden, Partner at Justitia Lawyers and Consultants.

Justitia is a workplace law and consulting firm founded in 2005 by two intrepid female lawyers who had a vision of a different way of practicing law. They established a forward-thinking firm that valued flexibility, diversity, a non-hierarchical structure, and prioritised relationships over billable hours. Sixteen years later, the firm continues to evolve, leading with empathy and collaborating with clients and like-minded organisations to build healthy and dynamic workplaces where people can thrive.

Topics covered in this session included:

• How the firm determines and applies its market differentiators
• The importance of vision and mission in building culture and agility
• How the firm ensures employee health and well-being remain at the core of its practice
• The importance and application of empathy in practice and its connection to client centricity
• How the firm recognises challenges, deals with them, and the importance of sharing lessons learned
• How law firms can reimagine the pricing of legal services/products and the opportunities that brings for different and better client communications
• New and emerging opportunities for client engagement – through collaborations, partnerships, events, Just Ask Justitia, Justitia Connect, social media and beyond!
• How boutique law firms manage things like recruitment, size of engagement, and succession planning

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

In this podcast, Ben Gouldson, Director at Clifford Gouldson Lawyers and Schellie-Jayne (SJ) Price, Senior Legal Counsel at Chevron Australia; and Chair, Legal Technology and Innovation Committee (LTIC), Association of Corporate Counsel, Australia shared their experiences and practical mini case studies in how to choose the right ROI/metrics for a legal innovation project.

Topics covered in this session included:

• Why and how to choose the right project, goals and metrics
• The connection and difference between project goals and metrics
• The role and function of project metrics
• Different types of metrics
• How metrics add value and the important role they play in legal innovation projects
• The connection between tech, data, metrics, ROI and decision making in contemporary legal practice  

You’ll find details about the other episodes in this series here.

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Resources referred to in this episode:

• HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers, Harvard Business Review Press, 2018 is available here

In this podcast, Jan Christie, Director, Capability + Organisational Development at Gilbert + Tobin shared her experience, provided practical mini case studies, and discussed the importance of communication for legal innovation projects.

Topics covered in this session included:

• Understanding preferred communications styles
• Getting clear on your project so you can communicate it effectively
• Identifying and understanding the different communication needs of all stakeholders
• Understanding what needs to be communicated (the right information, not all the information all the time)
• When to communicate – formal vs informal and structured vs unstructured
• How to communicate – the optimal mix of digital and in-person and different tools for different communication style and stakeholders
• The importance of structuring and determining the best type of communication for your project team (including establishing a psychologically safe environment)

You’ll find details about the other episodes in this series here.

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

In this podcast, , Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific) (CLI) and David Bushby, Managing Director, InCounsel previewed a new FREE webinar and podcast series on Legaltech Around the World.

The series is being offered by CLI in collaboration with InCounsel. It kicks off in February 2022 with David acting as the series host/facilitator. Faculty for the series compromises 25 amazing legaltech gurus – designers, developers and consumers - from 7 regions around the world.

In this session Terri and David discussed:

• What viewers/listeners can expect from the series
• Where there may (or may not be) differences between countries and regions
• Why understanding and exploring tech from a global perspective makes sense especially right now
• Their aspirations for the series – connecting people and creating opportunities for building great tech for the legal ecosystem.  

You’ll find details about the episodes in this series here.

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Additional resources:

• CLI Bi-Monthly Newsletter – subscription details here.
• InCounsel Weekly – subscription details here.

In this podcast, , Michael Morrissey, Managing Director + Founder, Morrissey Law + Advisory shared his experience in building buy-in for your project inside and outside your legal organisation.

Topics covered in this session included:

• Know your mission
• Measuring buy-in
• Garnering buy-in: Communication; Training; Culture building; Taking your team on the journey
• Maintaining buy-in
• Reporting: Celebrating the wins; Acknowledging the losses; Recognising the team

You’ll find details about the other episodes in this series here.

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Resources referred to in this episode:

• Melissa Lyon – CLI Legal Design Thinking and Doing series
• Melissa Lyon - Building a user centred approach to innovation projects: video and podcast
• Maya Markovich - Leveraging the entrepreneurial mindset in your legal practice: video and podcast
• Brene Brown website  

In this podcast, Melissa Lyon, Executive Director & Experience Designer at Hive Legal shared her experience in building a user centred approach to legal innovation projects.

Topics covered in this session included:

• What “a user centred approach” means
• Why a user centred approach is important and impactful in contemporary legal practice
• How and what it takes to build a user centred approach in innovation projects: mindsets, processes and tools

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Additional resources referred to in this session:

• CLI Legal Design Thinking and Doing Series is available here.
• Information on the Stanford Legal Design Lab is available here.
• The Legal Design Book is available to purchase here.

In this podcast, innovation and legaltech guru Maya Markovich, Startup Advisor, discussed how an entrepreneurial mindset acts as a catalyst for legal innovation.

Topics covered in this session included:

• What is an “Entrepreneurship Mindset”?
• Why is change in the legal space so challenging?
• Why is a different mindset necessary in advancing legal innovation?
• What are the benefits of thinking differently?
• What does it take to think differently?
• What are the opportunities through and after transformation?

If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this session, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free resource hub here.

Additional resources referred to in this session:

• CIOF Working Group - Innovation Professionals Capabilities Survey Report  is available to download here.
• Clio 2021 Legal Trends Report is available to download here.
• Mosaic Personality Tasks are available here.