By Katy Murson

Late last year, CLOC hosted a virtual Global Institute where legal professionals had the opportunity to share their experiences and collaborate on topics about the business of law. This event was CLOC’s first online Institute and the interest was shattering with over 1,400 attendees worldwide.  This past year has been challenging due to the pandemic, which is the reason this virtual platform was essential for professionals to adapt and network. I was a recipient of the CLOC Scholarship Award last year and was truly grateful that I was able to virtually connect with others in our field.

I was thrilled when CLOC asked me to moderate a training and development roundtable discussion on Developing a Diverse Legal Team. The experience was incredible, and the information shared by our esteemed legal operations’ professionals was relatable to all participants. I’m sure most professionals can understand the complexity involved with onboarding new employees. This discussion was empowering, and it addressed many issues that leaders have challenges with while developing their teams. In fact, an hour was not nearly enough time for us to dive into this subject.

Effective training builds a successful team that implements consistent practices for employees located all over the globe. As an up-and-coming leader in the legal operations field, the Institute was a valuable experience for me to obtain advice and information from other distinguished leaders. I have always been nervous speaking in front of a public audience. You can laugh, but thousands of eyeballs staring up at me in the spotlight makes me uneasy. This is a challenge I have faced my entire life (even though I can successfully host meetings and training workshops for my colleagues across the globe). The Institute was a happy medium for me because it allowed me to share my experiences with other professionals in a comfortable and welcoming forum. Each time gets easier and moderating at the Institute helped me realize that I am a valued member of our legal operations community. The ability to network and connect with individuals that have different backgrounds and cultures is an asset for those in our field. There are so many unique perspectives and fresh ideas that help us to succeed and challenge one another in an unbiased environment.

The roundtable discussions were creative in the sense that they encouraged attendees to actively participate in the discussion. It has been my experience that conferences usually feature key speakers and there are limitations for the attendees to participate. The Institute had a wide array of key speakers and moderated discussions on all sorts of topics, which kept it interesting throughout the day.

The Institute also had an exhibitor hall that featured many key technology solution providers. Access to these providers was crucial as technology has a huge impact in the success of Legal Operations. It is always exciting to see what vendors have to offer and research different technology providers to find solutions for real issues. It was nice to see all the providers on one page where we could preview the solutions and key aspects of their products.  

Leadership comes in all different styles, but I believe that one major factor is influence. Successful leaders have the ability to influence change and achieve goals. We all play a role as leaders in some aspect of our lives, both professionally and personally. The Institute was an effective platform to maintain awareness of current initiatives that are being showcased in our field. It is safe to say that as leaders we all influence each other, and we rely on the support of our community to effectuate change and help one another achieve our goals. CLOC certainly brings us together with one interest in mind . . . legal operations.

This was the first time I attended a CLOC Institute and it was exciting to be able to learn and connect with other legal operations’ professionals from the comfort of my own home. I am looking forward to this year’s CLOC event and hopefully I will have the opportunity to connect with some new faces.

About the author: Katy Murson is Manager of Developed Markets – North America in Global Legal Operations at Viatris Inc. Katy builds strategic partnerships between corporate functions and the legal department at a global pharmaceutical company. As a Legal Operations professional, Katy’s primary objective is to explore technology and identify processes to increase functionality, equip efficient measures, enable system management and support, and provide cost savings for her company. This field has provided her with the ability to cultivate her strengths and increase her skills related to process support, project management, analytics, and organizational efficiencies. Prior to joining Viatris, Katy was employed as a Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability Paralegal. That position allowed her to advocate for others and to gain law firm experience at the administrative level. Katy has based her professional career upon honesty and versatility, which creates strong partnerships and allows for critical transformations within an organization.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murson-808260197/

The third annual CLOC London Institute kicked off on January 20th, 2020, at the Landmark Hotel, London. Over the course of two days, an energetic crowd of 430 attendees from 27 countries came together to CONNECT, LEARN, and COLLABORATE.

Legal Operations professionals from corporate teams and law firms filled the educational sessions and networked with legal vendors and service providers in the exhibit hall to exchange ideas, share information, learn about new services and technologies, and to challenge each other to reach new heights in 2021.

The structured meet-and-greets were fantastic opportunities to forge new partnerships and to rekindle existing ones. Members of the CLOC community also got together quite organically during the Institute to share dinner, or a cocktail, and built even stronger connections. These “Off the CLOC” social and business gatherings presented additional networking opportunities for participants, that will have a ripple effect throughout the year.

The Institute kicked off with opening remarks from Mary O’Carroll and me, followed by an always inspiring opening keynote by Dan Katz, who spoke on (yes, you guessed it) where legal technology and innovation has taken the industry over the last 10 years and his top predictions for the future.

Our goal for the Institute was to provide content that was tailored to the European legal ecosystem, while being practical and providing actions that could be implemented immediately. CLOC’s 2020 priorities seemed to resonate well across the community in Europe.

Here are a few key insights that I took away from London:

• Better Together: We are stronger as a connected community. In an ecosystem in a rapid state of evolution, everyone acknowledged that working in silos will hamper our ability to drive sustainable transformation. We need to work even more closely together to be successful. All boats rise with this collaborative approach, and we all become more invested in each other’s success when we work together to build solutions. Hearing the results of these types of collaborations will be a focus for CLOC London 2021!
• The CLOC Community is a Powerful Movement and Force for Good in the Industry. In an industry that is in a rapid state of transition, harnessing our collective ingenuity and diverse skills and thought will be an imperative for law firms and in-house teams that want to be agile, innovative and impactful to the clients and businesses they serve. We have the opportunity to leverage our collective power to drive positive change across the legal industry and create space for conversations on how we can make a difference. Let’s take on this challenge together!

• As GC roles evolve, Legal Ops is an Imperative Hire. Our panel of General Counsels leading the “General Counsel and their Legal Operations Lead” session demonstrated the powerful and strategic nature of the GC/Legal Ops Lead partnership and how working together, they are driving transformation and delivering value to the businesses they serve. Legal Operations Leads are now essential hires for GCs.
• Technology is an Enabler, Not a Silver Bullet. Technology implementations are still very challenging: user adoption and change management are still areas of underinvestment. Efforts to gain consensus on both the problem being solved and the potential products and services that will lead to better adoption of the selected solution is key. This will be another area of focus in 2021!
• The Proliferation of Legal-tech and Legal Services Providers is Overwhelming for In-House Teams. The new CLOC Legal Ops Directory is a good start in identifying all the vendors; however, this proliferation of vendors represents a more significant challenge for in-house Legal Ops teams . We would like to see more vendor consolidation within legal-tech. We need enterprise systems that work together seamlessly.
• This interoperability between systems will only be possible when vendors across the legal technology industry begin to collaborate to solve the problems challenging Legal Ops and their teams.
• Data is Power. Leveraging data and analytics to measure Legal Teams impact on the business is imperative in driving strategic decisions with business leaders and law firms. Many teams are struggling with access to easily consumable data due to multiple tools and integration challenges. Consolidated platform systems will help to access data and legal service providers can help with cleansing data and the human effort to build foundational dashboards to leverage predictive analytics capabilities.
• AI Needs HI. AI is still in the nascent stages with multiple tools solving unique use cases that need significant Human Intervention (HI). We need to see more vendor consolidation and collaborating in this space to reduce the heavy lift for in house teams. Legal service providers working with AI vendors can present better solutions to clients if they work together.

• Human Capital is Still Our Most Significant Asset! Are we doing enough to nurture and grow our Legal Leaders? The “Legal Leaders of the Future” session reminded us of the need to invest in our people and not leave anyone behind. This will require an intentional effort and investment in the development of resilience skills to prepare leaders for a more VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world. The CLOC community can help chart a new course for those in our community who feel rudderless and fearful of the changes ahead. Together, we can inspire confidence in our ability to operate successfully in a new future by sharing ideas and leveraging next-gen development programs.
• Progress, not Perfection, is Our Mantra. The Legal Ops Journey panel offered a fascinating insight into the different approaches each of the panellists took when prioritizing their initiatives in the first year of their roles. Progress, not perfection, is an essential mantra to adopt. Investments in change management initiatives are crucial to bringing people with you on the transformation journey.
• Law Firm Leaders Need to Solve Client Challenges. Law Firm COO and Innovation roles will help drive change, but in-house teams need to use their influence and buying power to invest in and reward innovative firms.

The 2020 London Institute was a great success in bringing our members together to Connect, Learn, and Collaborate. We are excited to begin planning the 2021 London Institute and hearing how the connections and collaborations forged this year have impacted each of you and your journeys as Legal Ops Leaders.

Mark your calendars for January 18-19, 2021. We’ll be meeting at the Grand Lancaster, London. See you there!