Chris Apple
Member Services & Development Manager
Arkansas
The CLOC Member Spotlight series profiles the incredible individuals within our community who are driving transformation in legal ops. Each spotlight provides inspiration, fosters connections, and gives readers a chance to learn more about their peers. By sharing these stories, we celebrate the diverse voices and talents that make CLOC a vibrant and connected community.
Dr. Vera Roedel is the Co-Founder of Transforming Legal and Legal Counsel for Merck KGaA. She serves as a founding regional co-lead of CLOC Germany. Keep reading to learn more about Vera.
About me:
I am Dr. Vera Rödel, a German-qualified attorney with 15 years of experience working at the intersection of law, the pharmaceutical industry, and digital healthcare. After starting my career at Linklaters LLP, I moved into the pharmaceutical sector, holding roles at Boehringer Ingelheim where I focused on regulatory questions and healthcare compliance.
Since 2014, I have been with Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, where I first led global legal teams in Neurology & Immunology and Cardio-Metabolic & Endocrinology, advising worldwide on regulatory, advertising, and licensing issues. In 2022, I assumed the role of Global Lead Antitrust, where I oversee all competition law matters across the Group and chair the Global Antitrust Expert Group.
Alongside my in-house career, I am also active as an entrepreneur. I co-founded Prof. Valmed GmbH, which develops AI-driven clinical decision support solutions and the Valmed A(I)cademy®, an evidence-based training platform for healthcare professionals. In addition, I founded Transforming.Legal, a boutique consultancy that guides legal departments and law firms through digital transformation, with a focus on legal tech, AI-based knowledge management, and agile governance structures.
I am passionate about bringing together legal excellence, healthcare innovation, and digital business models. My work centers on building future-ready legal functions, fostering compliance through smart processes, and enabling sustainable transformation. I regularly speak at conferences, publish on compliance and innovation, and enjoy mentoring the next generation of legal professionals.
Why I love being a CLOC member:
I love being a CLOC member because it allows me to connect with peers who share my passion for shaping the future of legal operations. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of law, healthcare, and digital transformation — from leading global legal teams at Merck KGaA to founding my own ventures, Prof. Valmed and Transforming.Legal.
CLOC gives me a unique platform to both share my experiences in areas like antitrust, healthcare compliance, and legal tech, and to learn from others who are driving innovation in their organizations. I truly value the openness and collaboration in this community — it feels less like a network and more like a collective movement.
What inspires me most is the diversity of perspectives and the willingness of members to experiment, challenge the status quo, and reimagine how legal teams operate. For me, CLOC is a source of ideas, energy, and encouragement that I can bring back into my own work, whether it’s mentoring young professionals, implementing digital tools, or developing AI-based solutions for healthcare.
My advice for other legal ops professionals:
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be: embrace change with curiosity rather than fear. Legal is evolving faster than ever — with digitalization, AI, and new business models reshaping the way we work. Instead of clinging to “how we’ve always done things,” we should experiment, collaborate across disciplines, and see transformation as an opportunity to add more value.For me, the most rewarding moments have come from stepping outside the traditional comfort zone of legal work — whether building cross-functional teams, adopting new technologies, or launching entrepreneurial projects. The industry needs leaders who combine legal excellence with openness, creativity, and courage.
A fun fact about me:
Something fun I’d like to share is that I’m a passionate trail runner. Hitting the trails is my way of recharging and finding balance — it gives me the same mix of focus, resilience, and creativity that I need in legal operations and entrepreneurship. Some of my best ideas have come to me while running through the woods or up a mountain path!
CLOC Member Spotlights provide an opportunity to showcase members within our community who are making a difference in their organizations, in their CLOC groups, within the CLOC community and/or the industry as a whole. Do you know of a really cool thing a CLOC member is doing? We invite you to nominate a member of the CLOC Community for a future feature in the CLOC Member Spotlights Series.