Pioneers and Pathfinders Seyfarth Shaw LLP

In this week’s episode, we speak with Steve Harmon, chief operating officer and general counsel at Elevate, a company that provides software and services for the intersection of business and law. Like many of our guests, Steve has had an unconventional—but truly fascinating—career path. While attending undergrad at BYU, he and some of his classmates founded a company, prompting him to earn a business degree and attend law school so that he could serve as the patent lawyer on the team. He would go on to leverage his combined legal and business knowledge throughout his career. Before joining Elevate, he worked at Cisco Systems for almost 20 years in various functions, where he and his team built one of the most innovative legal departments in the world. Steve was also a co-founder and board member of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC). Although he is no longer on the board, he remains committed to its mission to promote collaboration among legal ops professionals.

We had so much to discuss with Steve that we split the conversation into two parts. In the first half of our chat, he talks about how he learned to be an in-house lawyer, the question every lawyer should ask their clients, his proudest accomplishment at Cisco, and his initial skepticism of having a legal ops role.

We will be taking a break next week, but we will return on June 26 for part two of the conversation, where we explore Steve’s work at Elevate, the impact of legal technology, and other fascinating topics.

Today we're joined by Carolyn Elefant, a change-maker in energy and environmental justice law specifically, as well as the legal profession generally. Carolyn is an attorney and an author, blogger, and legal innovation influencer at MyShingle.com. She started as a lawyer at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). After working in a law firm for a few years, she took the leap into starting her own practice. In her energy and environmental justice work, Carolyn helps innovative alternative energy companies navigate the FERC, state commissions, and energy markets. She also defends landowners and communities from pipeline infrastructure by helping them challenge adverse rulings and change laws. Nearly two decades ago, Carolyn co-founded the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition, which has since merged with the National Hydropower Association. This organization has helped draft and implement the laws that govern offshore wind and wave energy today, and has lobbied for hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development for the industry. In addition, Carolyn helps other lawyers venture into solo practice—sharing her thoughts and experiences through her award-winning blog, MyShingle.com, and her book, Solo by Choice.

In our conversation, Carolyn discusses the surprising reason she chose to attend law school, starting a solo practice, how she approaches legal technology, and her work in energy and environmental justice law.

Our guest today is Stephen Allen, a leading market expert and innovator in the legal world. Among his many roles, Stephen is EMEA Lead at Lotis Blue Consulting, which utilizes data and behavioral science to help companies with their growth and transformation. Stephen is also Chief Scout at Trampelpfad, which delivers innovative, established paths to success for law firms and legal departments. He has worked in legal services for over 25 years, having started as a lawyer in both private practice and in-house communities. He has played significant innovation roles at various organizations where he has worked. At Hogan Lovells, Stephen built an alternative delivery and innovation capability, and launched complementary businesses in financial services consulting and technology. He later joined Elevate, where he worked with customers to define their roles, and he designed market-leading solutions to business-of-law problems faced by law departments and law firms.

In our conversation, Stephen discusses Trampelpfad—the business and the English translation of the word, why he likes working with lawyers, the lessons he learned from the telecom industry, and the commonalities and differences between the organizations where he has worked.

Today we welcome a true pioneer and one of the first legal operations professionals in the industry, Connie Brenton. Connie is CEO and founder of LegalOps.com—a community bringing together the legal ecosystem to drive competitive advantage. She has over 20 years of expertise and innovation experience in the industry, building community, and driving leadership. Connie started her legal operations career at the enterprise software company Sun Microsystems. She then launched the legal operations functions at the companies Oracle and NetApp. Connie also founded CLOC (Corporate Legal Operations Consortium) and was CEO of the organization. CLOC is one of the organizations under Connie’s leadership that defined legal operations as we now know it. Additionally, she co-authored the book Running Legal Like a Business with Susan Lambreth, a previous guest on the podcast. As a result of her work, Connie has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Lawyer Media.

In today's discussion, Connie talks about her decision to start LegalOps.com, what it means to run legal "like a business," the qualities necessary to be part of a legal ops team, and community-building in a hybrid world.

Our guest today is a prolific connector and skilled executive coach in the legal industry. David Cowen is the founder and president of The Cowen Group and founder of the Summit on Legal Innovation and Disruption (SOLID). David started in staffing and recruiting, where he learned more about the art of making connections. Years later, as the demand for litigation support and eDiscovery talent grew, David pivoted toward the legal industry as a subject matter expert in building office legal support and technology teams. He ultimately founded The Cowen Group, which became the nation's leading search firm in staffing and recruiting senior legal leaders and next generation legal technologists. Over time, the firm has transitioned to the events space, hosting legal events on numerous topics such as legal innovation, legal operations, and eDiscovery. Among these many events is SOLID, a global series which focuses on innovation and the practice of law. These working groups bring together the most innovative thinkers and practitioners to take deep dives together into the hottest issues in the industry (As a disclaimer, Seyfarth is a supporter and host of many of the SOLID conferences.). Additionally, David writes extensively on managing and developing careers, “the war for talent,” and the motivations behind investments in people, process, and technology.

In today's conversation, David discusses why he founded SOLID, how he ended up in the legal industry, how he has kept up with client demands, and the importance of asking people for favors.

Today we're joined by Kris Niedringhaus of Georgia State University College of Law. Kris has a few roles at the law school: associate dean for Library, Information Services, Legal Tech & Innovation; faculty director of the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative; and clinical professor of law. For over two decades, she has been a law librarian and law professor at universities throughout the US. She has also been with the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) for more than 20 years in various roles, currently serving as an author, board member, and chair of the Legal Research Community Authoring Project advisory board. She is an executive committee member of the Association of American Law Schools' Section on Technology, Law, and Legal Education. Additionally, Kris has written and presented on topics such as legal research, teaching methods, and law library management.

In our discussion, Kris talks about the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative, how law students should approach legal technology, finding her place in the legal world, and why she enjoys student hackathons.