Legal Leaders

Ali Rafie

Hear from industry leaders in the legal and business world.

  1. 2D AGO

    EP 35: Leading Legal Teams & Managing Yourself as GC with Executive Coach Dennis Adsit

    In this episode, I sit down with Dennis Adsit, an executive coach with over a decade of experience helping leaders navigate transitions and build high-performing teams. Dennis holds a PhD in industrial psychology and has coached everyone from startup founders at Techstars to C-suite executives, with prior experience leading Six Sigma implementation and global call centers at Intuit. Dennis reveals why most lawyers' resumes fail: they focus on credentials and responsibilities instead of business impact. He introduces his WAS-DID-IS framework, which structures your story around the situation you faced, the actions you took, and the measurable results you delivered. We explore his four-pillar model of executive effectiveness: setting strategic context, executing efficiently, building talent, and managing yourself. Dennis explains how AI is changing leadership priorities, making the "generosity gene"—your ability to celebrate your team and create connection—more critical than ever for retaining talent and maintaining productivity. For lawyers transitioning from firms to in-house roles or moving into general counsel positions, Dennis breaks down the specific mindset shift required: from individual contributor solving legal problems to leader building platforms for others to succeed. He also offers tactical advice for early-career professionals on saying yes to diverse opportunities and becoming known as reliable problem-solvers. About Adist Insights:adsitinsights.com https://medium.com/@dennis_adsit/lawyers-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-case-efffd3106814

    42 min
  2. 07/29/2025

    EP 28: The Truth About AI in BigLaw: Why Culture Beats Tech and Veterans Are Leading the Way w/ Reed Smith Chief Innovation Officer David Cunningham

    David Cunningham is the Chief Innovation Officer at Reed Smith LLP, where he leads legal tech transformation for 2,000+ lawyers across 34 offices. But his focus goes far beyond technology—he’s rethinking the culture and workflows that shape how legal work gets done. With a background in legal operations and data analytics, David has become one of the leading voices in the push for practical, scalable innovation in Big Law. He’s also the founder of Legal Metrics, a nonprofit initiative improving how firms and clients measure performance. In this episode, David pulls back the curtain on what firms are really doing with AI and how change actually happens at scale. We talk about the biggest barriers to adoption (hint: it’s not the tools), how some seasoned partners are leapfrogging junior lawyers in AI use, and what law firms can learn from tech companies. We also explore: -How David’s background in client-facing innovation shapes his work inside the firm -What “working backwards from the client” looks like in Big Law -Why the hardest part of innovation is behavior—not technology -The metrics that actually matter for modern legal teams -How law students and associates can position themselves as innovation leaders -If you’re curious about the future of legal work and what’s happening behind the scenes at some of the world’s top firms, this episode is for you. 🎧 Subscribe if you enjoyed the episode! #LegalTech #Innovation #BigLaw #AI #LegalLeadership #FutureOfLaw #LegalOps #LawFirmStrategy

    39 min

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Hear from industry leaders in the legal and business world.