Off the Clock (Legal Value Network)

LVN Board members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler sit down with Stephen Poor, Chair Emeritus at Seyfarth Shaw. The trio discuss the inevitable changes impacting law firms, from the integration of non-legal professionals to the ongoing debate around the billable hour in the age of AI. They also examine why forward-thinking leaders found early resistance to now-common ideas, and give their perspectives on the future shape of law firms, talent development in a tech-driven world, and the enduring importance of the human connection. It's a candid look at the evolution of the legal profession and it is also a special episode in collaboration with the Pioneers and Pathfinders, Stephen's podcast.

In this episode Legal Value Network board members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler discuss innovation in the legal industry with David Cunningham, Chief Innovation Officer at Reed Smith. They explore the challenges and benefits of adopting AI and technology, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach that integrates various tools and processes. Cunningham highlights Reed Smith's strategy of leveraging existing models and working with both established and new companies to enhance legal services. They also discuss the significance of change management, data utilization, and the need for a clear roadmap to optimize business processes and client relationships.

LVN Board Members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler discuss the integration of generative AI in legal services with Conan Hines, Director of Legal Technology at Fried Frank. They explore the challenges and ethical considerations of billing for AI-enhanced legal work, comparing it to traditional legal research costs. Hines highlights the potential for AI to streamline tasks, reduce costs, and improve efficiency, but notes the need for law firms to adapt their business models. They debate whether clients should bear the costs of AI investments and how law firms can communicate the value of AI to clients. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of AI on the legal industry, including the potential for mid-sized firms to leverage AI to compete with larger firms.

In this special episode of Off the Clock, recorded live at the 2024 LVNx conference in Chicago, Legal Value Network Board Members Justin Ergler and Keith Maziarek engage in a dynamic discussion with three esteemed guests: Jennifer Leonard (founder of Creative Lawyers and Professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School), Laura Terrell (Executive Coach and host of the BigLaw Life Podcast) and Professor Richard Jolly (Northwestern). They delve into the transformative potential of AI in the legal profession, exploring its impact on creativity, lawyer development, and the future of law firms.  

On this episode, LVN board members Justin Ergler and Keith Maziarek welcome Jennifer Leonard, LVnX 2024 Keynote Speaker and founder of Creative Lawyers, for a candid discussion about the challenges and opportunities facing the modern legal profession. The trio delve into the potential disruption of AI, evolving client expectations, and the future of legal education. Jennifer also offers her perspectives on the business model implications of emerging technologies and how law firms can adapt to remain competitive. Jennifer, Keith and Justin also offer thoughts about fostering a culture of innovation and resilience within an organization, and how best to navigate the complexities of this rapidly changing industry.

In this episode, LVN Board Members Justin Ergler and Keith Maziarek have a chat with Jessica Lim, National Director, Practice Management, Disputes at Borden Ladner Gervais, located in Toronto. In typical fashion the conversation covers a number of topics, this time including the process of making career transitions, how to coach law firm partners to more effectively pitch clients for new business, and the age-old question of whether or not law firms can charge clients for legal project management services. 

In this episode, LVN Board member Keith Maziarek catches up with Ken Callander from Value Strategies, a consultancy advising law firms, legal departments, and legal operations on pricing, relationship management, and client service delivery, among other areas. Keith and Ken discuss: The evolution and growth of the role of a legal operations professional and the role of younger, fast-growing tech companies in pushing for innovation in legal operations. The cultural differences between high-tech companies and established companies in terms of innovation and trying new ideas. The challenges faced by law firms due to their fragmented authority structure and the importance of predictability in legal spend.

In the latest episode of Legal Value Network's “Off the Clock” podcast, Keith Maziarek sits down with longtime friend and client legal ops veteran Reese Arrowsmith, VP and Head of Legal Operations at Campbell Soup Company to chat about a variety of topics. In particular, they discussed how the client/firm relationship will be impacted by the recent developments in technology. They also talk a bit about misaligned perceptions between law firms and legal departments, and what it takes to overcome those hurdles in decentralized organizations.

In this episode, Keith Maziarek, an LVN board member and Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten, has an insightful conversation with Melissa Gyuer, Director of Pricing at Paul Hastings. The pair discuss in-house legal operations and relationships with law firms. The duo discuss everything from pricing dynamics and risk mitigation to cost control.

LVN Board Members Justin Ergler (GSK) and Keith Maziarek (Katten), have a conversation with Shawn Gross, Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Constangy, about the evolution of pricing and legal project management roles and how they now intersect with marketing and finance. The trio also examine the importance of making financial and pricing concepts easy to understand and why showing calculations is important for transparency.  They also delve into the importance of developing strong relationships with key players in law firms, especially rainmakers. 

This is a special episode recorded at the LVNx conference in Chicago and includes a conversation LVN board members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler had with LVNx keynote speaker Gina Passarella, SVP of Content from ALM Global, as well as Greg Lambert, one of the three original geeks from the Three Geeks and a Law Blog and host of “The Geek in Review Podcast” as well as being Chief Knowledge Services Officer Jackson Lewis. Topics discussed include  Importance of succession planning and incentivizing partners to pass on their books of business Challenges in implementing change in law firms Examining value and profitability for both law firms and clients

Founding LVN Board Member Justin Ergler has a wide-ranging conversation with Matthew Beekhuizen, Chief Pricing and Innovation Officer at Greenberg Traurig. The duo discuss the importance of developing strong relationships with legal clients and the need to “translate” business to legal. They also discuss hiring the right people for the right job, how to best build credibility within an organization and set expectations for partners. Justin and Matthew close out their talk with their take on what they see moving forward in the legal industry.

In this episode, LVN Board Members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler are in conversation with Stefanie Marrone, who serves as a fractional and outsourced marketing director for law firms and professional services companies. The trio discuss the importance of a client-centered approach to differentiate law firms in a crowded market. Stefanie also explains the need for law firms to understand their clients' businesses and put the client first in communication and service delivery. She also recommends seeking client feedback, creating resources to help clients, anticipating and emphasizes the importance of fostering relationships with clients and referral sources. She also cautions against relying solely on reputation and price as differentiators, and stresses the importance of likability and personalized attention for clients.

LVN board members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler talk to Nathan Cemenska, Director, Legal Operations and Industry Insights at Wolters Kluwer. The trio discuss pricing and negotiation dynamics between law firms and clients, with a focus on the use of data and alternative solutions such as insourcing and utilizing ALSPs. They also also touch on the factors driving legal rate increases.

Founding LVN board members Justin Ergler and Keith Maziarek reunite with Laura Terrell, a long-time lawyer turned executive coach. They discuss the history of their somewhat uncommon relationship and how it underscores the importance of collaboration and communication between legal teams and finance personnel. The trio also shares their experience working together on a fast-moving portfolio of matters and explains how trust and creative problem-solving were essential to their success.

This episode was recorded live at the LVNx Conference in Chicago and is a conversation with LVN Board Members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler with multiple guests from across the legal ecosystem including Aaron Boersma, Mikhail Makarovsky and Jae Um. This dynamic conversation touched on a variety of provocative and timely topics such as the untapped potential benefits of client feedback, whether clients hire lawyers or firms and how they respond when a lawyer changes firms, and how to break the foolish discount shopping and annual rate increase cycle that distracts us all from focusing on value and outcomes. It's a good one!

LVN Board member and Katten's Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management, Keith Maziarek, has a wide ranging conversation with Angela Floessel, Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Morrison & Foerster  Discussion topics include why Angela made the jump to legal from private equity, why law firms need to be disciplined about legal pricing strategies, the importance of project management skills, why not every RFP is created equal and how she implemented a program at her firm to take advantage of litigation funding.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Justin Ergler (LVN board member and Director, Alternative Fee Intelligence and Analytics at GSK) talks to author and attorney Lisa F. Smith about her book Girl Walks Out of a Bar and the importance of being transparent and acknowledging mental health challenges so that others know they are not alone and everyone can help with the healing process.

In this episode, LVN Board Member and Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten, Keith Maziarek has a conversation with Professor Richard Jolly of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also a principal at the Stokes and Jolly consultancy). The conversation is wide ranging touching on how lawyers are now more open to technology adoption, but still reticent because it is in their nature to be risk averse. Richard talks about his theory of hedgehogs and foxes in professional services (hedgehogs do one thing very well, while foxes are flexible and adapt to all sorts of conditions) and how, as a group, lawyers are often narcissists, but that is a good thing.

On this episode LVN Board Member Justin Ergler (Director of Alternative Fee Intelligence Analytics at GlaxoSmithKline) talks to Jason Winmill (founder of management consultancy Argopoint) about how legal departments and law firms can communicate better and tackle fee increase requests.

LVN Board Member Keith Maziarek (Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten) and Chad Main (Percipient) talk to Bill Rudnick. Bill is General Counsel at Cresset Capital, a boutique private wealth management firm, and previously the managing partner of DLA Piper's Chicago office, the firm's second largest. The conversation focuses on creative and different ways of thinking about legal pricing and the value of legal services with the benefit of Bill's uniquely well-rounded perspectives as a law firm lawyer and leader, a corporate general counsel, a J.D. and a M.B.A.

In this episode of Legal Value Network's Off the Clock Podcast, Keith Maziarek, LVN board member and Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management for Katten, talks with Greg Lambert, Chief Knowledge Services Officer for Jackson Walker and co-host of The Geek in Review podcast. The conversation touches on plans for upcoming LVN events and APIs (application programming interface). The discussion focuses on how APIs can be used to share data between legal tech applications to make better decisions about doing legal work and setting budgets.

Justin Erlger (LVN board member and Director of Alternative Fee Intelligence and Analytics at GSK) and Brad Antici (Director of Strategic Pricing and Analysis at Butler Snow) talk about how Brad's trip to a fine clothier reinforced his belief that for both law firms and clients to maximize value in their relationships, law firms must take the time to get to know the client's business and also take the time to explain to the client the type and value of services they are delivering.

Connie Brenton, VP, Law, Technology and Operations at NetApp and LVN Board member Keith Maziarek discuss the emergence of law firm pricing teams, the use of project management, and missed opportunities for communication between in-house legal teams and their law firms.

Hushmand Cott, Chief Strategic Pricing Officer for Covington Burling and LVN Board Member Justin Ergler, of GSK discuss how law firms and clients can open lines of communication and work together to improve diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and solve tough pricing issues.

In the latest episode of LVN's Off the Clock, we talk to Esther Bowers, Director of Practice Management at Honigman. She explains how she and her firm add value their client representations by working closely with them to understand their desired outcomes and augmenting quality legal work with legal project management, fair and competitive pricing, helpful technology, and flexible staffing models.

Founding LVM board member, Keith Maziarek, Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten, Pratik Patel Co Founder and Vice President, Innovation at law company Elevate Services and Chad Main, founder of Percipient talk about how the demand for legal services is changing and creating partnership opportunities for law firms and other allied legal service providers to better serve clients.

LVN celebrates Women's History Month by featuring a prominent female leader in the Legal Pricing and Project Management Space. Melissa Prince, Chief Client Value and Innovation Officer at Ballard Spahr has a conversation with Founding Board LVN board member Justin Ergler Director, Alternative Fee Intelligence and Analytics at GlaxoSmithKline. Justin and Melissa discuss how law firms can differentiate themselves and provide value to clients beyond the cost of legal services when competing with other firms for business.

In the inaugural episode of Legal Value Network's Off the Clock, Justin Ergler, a founding LVN board member, talks to Chris Emerson, Senior Director of Legal Operations and Innovation at Quarles & Brady. Justin and Chris discuss how law firms can provide value to clients outside of traditional legal work by providing assistance with legal operations. Law firms can also add value to client representations by providing insight and metrics about the legal work performed.

Off the Clock presented by the Legal Value Network. Spontaneous conversations about the legal industry just like those you have after work when you are off the clock.