Elizabeth Lugones’ Post

Are you ready to scale your legal practice in 2024? Here's something to consider. 🚀 In my journey from law to business operations, I've discovered that many firms overlook the untapped potential within their existing processes. By effectively streamlining legal operations and integrating advanced tech like AI, firms can drastically improve efficiency and client service. It's not just about cutting costs; it's about enhancing the value we provide. The question remains: What steps are you taking now to prepare for a transformative future? Embrace change, seek continuous improvement, and position your firm as a leader in innovation. The time for proactive adaptation is now! #LegalInnovation #ScalingSuccess #AIandLaw #OperationalExcellence

AI, Legal Innovation & The Future of Law – Are You Ready?   The legal industry is at an inflection point. AI, automation, and knowledge management aren’t just buzzwords—they’re reshaping how law firms operate, compete, and deliver value.   In the latest Careers in the Business of Law podcast, I sat down with Ted Theodoropoulos, Founder & CEO of Infodash, to unpack: ✅ How AI is forcing law firms to rethink risk, efficiency & profitability ✅ Why firms like Wilson Sonsini, Cooley, Paul Hastings & Ogletree Deakins are investing in tech & KM as revenue drivers ✅ The VC-style approach to legal tech investment—and why firms should bet on 10 ideas, not just one ✅ How legal professionals can stand out in an industry where adaptability is the new superpower   📢 Shoutouts to the brilliant minds driving legal innovation: Joe Green (Gunderson Dettmer), Esther Bowers, Ed Macnamara (ArentFox Schiff), Wendy Butler Curtis (Orrick), Lorie Almon (Seyfarth Shaw)   This is the conversation legal leaders need to be having. 🎙   🎧Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eW3yxYpv 🎧Apple: https://lnkd.in/ewmP9z5a   For more on emerging trends, impactful careers, and the business of law, follow The Cowen Group at www.cowengroup.com 📊📆 👥 Tag someone who should hear this!  #LegalTech #Innovation #FutureOfLaw

Here's my 2024 LinkedIn Rewind: 2024 taught me something powerful about legal innovation: transforming an industry isn't about point solutions - it's about reimagining the entire workflow. At DecoverAI, we've proven that comprehensive change drives real impact. From concept to reality in 2024: → Secured $2M seed funding to build our 360 Legal Brain technology → Won Best LegalTech AI Innovation Award from World Future Awards → Developed capability to process 1M+ documents simultaneously → Implemented 1-1-1 giving model for social impact → Grew from founding team to 20 employees Three insights that resonated deeply with our community: "The real opportunity isn't in fixing one part of the legal workflow but in rethinking the entire system. Legal teams don't need more disconnected tools - they need integrated platforms." "Our cutting-edge 360 Legal Brain technology is set to revolutionize the legal industry, streamlining workflows for law firms and Fortune 500s." "We're about more than just innovation. Our work is deeply rooted in our core values, and while we partner with top law firms and the Fortune 500, we also fight for justice." Looking ahead: 2025 will be about scaling DecoverAI's impact while maintaining our commitment to comprehensive solutions and social responsibility. We're focused on transforming legal operations through technology while ensuring security and accessibility. To our growing community of legal innovators: the future of legal tech isn't in scattered solutions - it's in reimagining how legal work gets done. Let's build that future together. #LegalTech #Innovation #AI #FutureOfLaw #DecoverAI #LinkedInRewind

We are living in an era of rapid and unavoidable #change. Like it or not, technology is transforming how we communicate, how we #collaborate, and fundamentally how we work. Today’s challenges are also today’s opportunities – creating a “perfect storm” for lawyers, legal technologists, legal operations—and in fact all allied professionals within law firms to lean into change and #experiment with new ways of working, while redefining what success looks like in the age of #AI. There is no debating that AI is a transformative change agent that will ultimately reshape how law firms operate, compete, and deliver value—making its adoption and strategic integration an imperative, rather than an option. This is not a spectator sport as AI is the most profound #technology humanity is working on and it requires all of us to be in the game. This is why I am excited to attend the upcoming Inside Practice event, The Human Side of Legal Tech: Teams, Talent, and Change Management, taking place in Chicago at the offices of Chapman and Cutler LLP on March 4th. DraftWise's Chief Customer Officer, Will Seaton,  Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's Practice Innovation Manager, Megan McMillin, and I will be presenting on the panel topic called 'A Perfect Storm for Innovation: AI and Change Management.' This presentation will explore the inherent opportunities for law firms to create space where #innovation thrives—striking a balance between risk, experimentation, and opportunities to fail forward—fostering a culture built upon #agility, #resilience, and a capacity to quickly adapt and respond to the challenges and opportunities that we will encounter amid today’s perfect storm for innovation. Special thanks to Kevin Klein for reaching out and extending the invitation to participate in the discussion. Shout out to our amazing team at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP for living the values of innovation, collaboration, and innovation excellence when it comes to embracing change and emerging technologies.

Gen AI became the new #1 change agent cited by C-Suite Executives; 88% of C-Suite respondents expect an even faster rate of change in 2024 - it’s impact on society, business, work, the workforce, and the workplace cannot be overstated. “Knowledge workers,” particularly lawyers, had previously remained largely insulated from the effects of technological change. Gen AI has revoked their hall pass. It is the final nail in the coffin of legal exceptionalism (e.g. “only lawyers are qualified to perform what they deem ‘legal’ tasks”) and the end of law’s change incrementalism. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to creating a Gen AI-era legal team, but the commonality of challenges far exceeds the differences. Read the full article by Mark A. Cohen, CEO of Legal Mosaic, for recommendations to get started. https://lnkd.in/eF3QvjH8 Mark was a speaker at LegalTechTalk 2024. #LegalTech #Law #Legal #GenAI

As AI continues to impact the legal industry, it is important to recognize that lawyers still hold a significant advantage in many cases, and there is no credible technical or scientific evidence suggesting this will change in the near future. Here are a few examples where lawyers maintain a distinct advantage. 1. Abstract thinking & problem-solving: Creating novel strategies for unprecedented cases 2. Advocacy: Persuasive courtroom arguments, adapting on the fly 3. Client counseling: Advising clients with empathy and personal insight 4. Emotional intelligence: Reading between the lines in witness interactions 5. Policy analysis: Evaluating long-term societal / other impacts of laws 6. Big picture strategy: Guiding complex processes like complicated corporate mergers The bottom line: Al is a powerful tool, but it can't replace the complex, creative, and emotionally intelligent work of human lawyers. At least not yet... #LegalTech #AlinLegal #FutureOfLegal #LegalInnovation

Check out Ted Theodoropoulos and David Cowen's conversation on the Careers and the Business of Law podcast - Episode 35 Inside Legal Innovation: AI, Knowledge Management & The Future of Law.

The biggest mistake I see law firms making: 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to turn the ideas from AI days, partner days, brainstorming workshops about use cases, etc, into a concrete and actionable plan, like a realistic GenAI roadmap. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to get the right expertise on board - whether it's by hiring or partnering with GenAI experts. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to appoint a great Head of Innovation because of internal firm politics 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to up-skill staff. Leaving people to their own devices without communication or any updates on the what/when/where/how. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to experiment, build, iterate and create GenAI tools. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 to confront the hard truths about what data, infrastructure, skills and resources the firm has / is lacking in order to get from where they are to where they want to be. 👎 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 for Microsoft Copilot to be installed and banking on it to "solve all our GenAI needs and problems" (which it simply never does) - the sooner this penny drops, the closer you are to creating a roadmap that works for you.) 👎 Instead of using first principles to design a strategy, simply 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 until other firms have made the first move - "look, there's precedent" 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ❌ Losing momentum within the firm ❌ Losing first mover advantage on solid use cases ❌ Losing first-mover press opportunities ❌ Losing credibility (Partners know what's going on) ❌ Losing the patience of the Partners (Trial fatigue) ❌ Losing goodwill of giving time to "brainstorming" ❌ Losing some of the best talent to other firms ❌ Lawyers losing confidence in GenAI because Copilot is all they've seen ❌ Losing the advantage of acquiring a wealth of knowledge you'd get from experimenting with GenAI Waiting used to be ok when the world moved at 1/5th of the pace. But it's 2024, and the competition isn't sleeping (anymore). The good news: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱. In tomorrow's post, I'll discuss the step-by-step approach I see the legal industry's top CIOs and Innovation Leaders taking that actually works. Make sure to follow so you don't miss it! See you tomorrow :) #legaltech #generativeAIinlegal #firstprinciples #AIforLegal #AIforLawFirms #GenerativeAIinlaw

Here's my 2024 LinkedIn Rewind, by Coauthor.studio: Sometimes the most impactful shifts in legal recruiting aren't about the deals closed, but about evolving how we connect elite talent with transformative opportunities. 2024 proved that blending traditional relationship-building with strategic AI integration creates exceptional outcomes in specialized legal recruitment: ✅ Advanced to Lead - Staffing and Delivery role ✅ Expanded network to 7,272+ legal sector connections ✅ Pioneered AI-enhanced screening for M&A, Finance & Restructuring, and IP Litigation placements ✅ Developed thought leadership in strategic talent matching Looking ahead: 2025 will be about leveraging AI innovations while deepening our human-centric approach to connecting premier law firms with transformative legal talent. We're focused on expanding our reach in specialized practice areas while maintaining the personalized service that defines our success. #TalentAcquisition #LegalRecruitment #ExecutiveSearch #AIRecruitment #LinkedInRewind #2024wrapped #Coauthor

The #LLE2024 with LegalFly, legal executive attendees are for an experience! With Lord Sebastian Coe as the Keynote and industry grandmaster Prof. Stephen Mayson taking the main stage tomorrow, 3rd October, this years event is set to showcase the very best of law and legal leadership. Amongst the agenda highlights, topics include: Building an adaptive organisation with Ade McCormack, the changing nature of risk, culture and community collaboration whilst also looking at how to continue building an alliance between in House and Private Practice. Leading the stages this year alongside our Event Chair, Christina Blacklaws (she/her), Shawn Curran, delve into The 3 T’s (Technology, Team, Transformation, the Future shape of the Billable Hour in an era of AI, The Global Market for Legal Services, led by PwC and Chris Bull, Future Legal Leaders, Build , Buy & Integrate with Jenifer Swallow, Change Transformation Success Stories, Rich Data: Powering AI’ and much more.. In addition, with Ethics at the forefront of discussion we welcome Lee Castleton, former Postmaster and how the Post Office Scandal has raised more questions for the profession then is yet answered. New at #LLE2024 Uwais Iqbal, Founder & CEO, simplexico will be delivering a focused roundtable 'AI in Legal: Bridging the Gap'. ✔️ Introduce AI from a conceptual standpoint breaking down what the technology is & what it can really enable ✔️Unpack & explore common buzzwords like Generative AI & Large Language Models ✔️Go beyond the hype to understand the resurgent interest in AI across the legal industry In addition to the high calibre content, ‘Nicola Jones’ who is the founder of Athena Professional will be running a key Masterclass on “Creating a Culture of Collaboration”. A question many peers ask is, ‘How do we set up teams which can create new ways of working?’ This in-depth Masterclass unravels this quagmire and explores how collaboration is essential to break new ground... Listen to the Exclusive Interview with Lord Sebastian Coe here: https://spoti.fi/4e5oeTx and don’t forget if you are joining us tomorrow, download the new ‘#LLE2024’ App from the Apple App Store / Google Play Store today. We look forward to seeing you there. #Law #legalmanagement #legalit #lawtech