In-House Outliers

On this week's episode, Christine Baer (Legal Operations Manager at the University of Cambridge) joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about her fascinating career journey, and what drew her to the field of legal operations. Christine also shared insights into her own legal ops strategies, including how she works to maximize the capabilities of her organization's in-house legal team and ens...

On this week's episode, Legal Operations Leader Amy Brookbanks joined Alex Kelly to discuss her initial transition from in-house legal to legal operations, and the keys of developing a strong relationship with an organization's Finance team. Amy also shared her thoughts on how to prioritize what the community is saying and what your business needs when developing a legal ops strategy, and...

Recorded live at this year's CLOC Global Institute, this week's episode features Kshitij Dua, Head of Legal Operations at HashiCorp. Kshitij joined Alex Kelly to discuss his observations about some of the panels he attended while at CGI, and share his thoughts on the future impacts of A.I. on the field of legal operations.

On this week's episode, Mandy Savoca (Legal Operations Technology Lead at Block) joined Alex Kelly to discuss how she approaches legal technology implementations to ensure that all the stakeholders involved are up to speed and satisfied with the solutions being offered. Mandy also shared insights into the keys to evaluating software solutions, and the pivotal role that data plays in all the de...

On this episode, Jeremy Hopkins (Director of Legal Operations at Contentsquare) joined Alex Kelly to discuss the most effective ways for legal operations leaders to implement change and garner support for new initiatives from the organization's legal team. Jeremy also shared his thoughts on the future role of generative A.I. on the legal profession, and discussed how his work as a former barri...

Tom Rice, Legal Director at TravelPerk, joins Alex Kelly for an insightful discussion about the innovative approaches Tom has implemented to support the rapid growth of his organization's legal department. Tom also shared his thoughts on the importance of always challenging the reasons for the work that you're doing, and the hurdles he has overcome while scaling TravelPerk's systems to...

On this episode, John Bennett (CEO and Founder of Melius Law) joined Alex Kelly for a discussion about the growth of legal technology, and how embracing legal tech can help in-house teams level up their capabilities while improving organizational leadership's perception of the legal function as a whole. John also shared his observations about the differences between working for a law firm and...

Katrina Gowans (CLOC Australian Chapter Co-Chair) joined Alex Kelly on the show this week to discuss some of the key challenges she faced when transitioning to legal ops from her previous role as a Senior Corporate Lawyer. Katrina also provided insights on how best to illustrate the value of legal operations to legal leaders who are on the fence about implementing a legal ops function.

On this week's episode, Cat Casey (Chief Growth Officer at Reveal-Brainspace) joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about her 18 years working in the e-discovery space, and how staying current on the ever-evolving technology landscape is pivotal to getting an edge in your career development. Cat also shared her insights into the future role of A.I. in the legal space, and how emerging technolog...

On this week's episode, Jonathan Polk (General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Melio) joined Alex Kelly for a fascinating conversation about Jonathan's career journey, which led him from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to American Express and, ultimately, to his current role at Melio. Jonathan discussed the challenges he overcame in transitioning to each respective role, and a...

On this week's episode, Brooks Hall, Legal Operations Manager at Human Interest, joined Alex Kelly for an in-depth conversation about the career path that led her to the field of legal operations after previously holding Senior Paralegal roles. Brooks also shared insights into the importance of embracing legal tech, and the transformative power of having true clarity into legal spend.

On this episode Michael Theise, Senior Manager of Legal & Compliance Operations at Biogen, joined Alex Kelly for a conversation about how the skills he developed working as a programmer, data analyst, and customer success manager ultimately set him up for success in the field of legal operations. Michael also shared some of the biggest lessons he's learned to this point in his career, and...

Electra Japonas, CEO and Founder of TLB, joins Alex Kelly on the podcast this week to discuss her incredible career journey, the differences between working for a firm and working in-house, and the proper way to approach legal technology to ensure you're getting the most out of your investment. Electra also shared insights into the growth she has seen in the legal operations space, and how org...

Recorded live at the 2023 CLOC Global Institute in Las Vegas, this episode features conversations with Stacy Lettie (Chief of Staff to the General Counsel, Organon) and Ryan Buoscio (Manager of Legal Operations, Ventas, Inc.) about the important role that collaboration and teamwork play in the legal ops function. Stacy also dove into how to develop a strong relationship with your General Counsel,...

Recording live in Las Vegas during CLOC Global Institute, Alex Kelly was joined by Liz Lugones (COO & Senior Advisor at UpLevel Ops) and Mary Zolene Agbovi (Director of Legal Operations at CoverMyMeds) for this episode. Liz discussed her thoughts on the importance of building a business case for investments in legal ops, and Mary detailed her experience building out her professional network fr...

In the latest episode of the In-House Outliers "Live from CLOG Global Institute" series, Alex Kelly spoke with Lara Trope (Legal Operations Consultant at InnoLaw Group, PLLC) and Laurie David-Henric (Global Head of Operations & Strategy at Manulife) about their insights into the legal ops trends that caught their attention during CGI. Lara also shared what triggered her initial inter...

Recorded live at the 2023 CLOC Global Institute in Las Vegas, this episode features special guests Denise Doyle (Managing Director of Legal Operations, modCounsel) and Farrah Pepper (Chief Legal Innovation Counsel, Marsh McLennan). During her conversation with Alex Kelly, Denise shared some key advice for legal ops leaders that are in the early stages of developing their organization's legal o...

In-House Outliers kicks off its 2023 CLOC Global Institute podcast series with a live episode featuring Contentful's Director of Legal Operations Ashley Adams and Epiq's Senior Consultant Brenda Hansen. Ashley joined Alex Kelly to discuss how she got her start working in legal operations, how she developed her expertise at public speaking, and her CGI presentation about the keys to buildin...

Alex Su, Head of Community Development at Ironclad, joins Alex Kelly on the podcast this week for a conversation about his unconventional career journey, which led him from law school to sales to his current role—and helped him hone his creativity and skills as a social media guru. Alex also discussed his thoughts on A.I.'s future place in the legal field, and underscored the philosophical dif...

Andrew Stephens, General Counsel at MongoDB, joins Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about leadership, and the keys to forming meaningful connections with your colleagues. Andrew also discussed his thoughts about legal operations, why he enjoys working for growth stage tech companies, and the fascinating details of his career journey.

Helen Lowe, Head of Operations, General Counsel's Office at easyJet, joins Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about the importance of keeping a level head in any situation, and how a strong willingness to lend a hand is the mark of a good leader. Helen also shared insights into her own professional journey, and how her early-career experiences helped strengthen her ability to crystallize...

Lenor Marquis, Head of Litigation Operations at Hitachi Energy, joined Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about her career journey. Lenor discussed the key differences between working for firms and working in-house, the specific skills needed for leading litigation, and her thoughts on the benefits of legal technology.

Lisa Lang, Vice President and General Counsel at Ohio Northern University, joins Alex this week to share insights from her unconventional career path, which led her from a role as a legal specialist in the military to her current position as General Counsel. Lisa also shared her thoughts on key skills she had to acquire in order to make her professional transitions as seamless and rewarding as pos...

Kate Carlile, Chief Legal Officer at Toll, joins Alex Kelly this week to discuss the biggest differences between working as an in-house lawyer and working with a firm. Kate also underscored the importance of having a broad knowledge base, and why a strong understanding of finances can help ease an in-house legal team’s cross-collaborations.

Sandy MacDonnell, Senior Manager of Legal Operations at DocuSign, joins Alex Kelly this week for a conversation about the benefits of professional development, and how leveraging her experience working in Product Marketing has helped elevate her legal operations work. Sandy also discussed the importance of maintaining a sense of your work’s broader purpose, and learning to connect with your collea...