The LOPSided Podcast

In episode twenty five, the LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews Jack Tuttle, Director of the Center of Excellence for Continuous Improvement at Proskauer Rose.   John and Jack discuss driving value for LegalOps in a changing legal market. They explore how value is created through legal project management from a business stakeholder perspective, the approaches that have proven most eff...

In episode twenty four, the LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews Hayleigh Lippiatt-Durnell, Head of Legal Project Management and Legal Process Improvement at Charles Russell Speechlys. They discuss the role of Legal Operations in law firms and how to get buy-in and integrate LegalOps best practices into a firms culture and workflows.  They touch on key topics including: Which cultural...

Episode twenty three is the final episode in our #TransformingLegal mini-series. The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews Edward Bird, the CEO of Solomonic, the worlds leading litigation analytics and intelligence platform. John and Edward navigate three key topics: What Is Solomonic? And why Litigation Analytics matter before action even begins, and why early strategic insight is incr...

Episode twenty two is the penultimate in our #TransformingLegal mini-series. The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews Alex Fortescue-Webb, Head of UKI and legal engineering at Legora. John and Alex navigate three key topics:. Why Legal AI Gets Stuck in Pilot Mode? What misconceptions do firms often have when they start experimenting with legal AI?  From Legora’s vantage point, what are...

Episode twenty one is the third in our #TransformingLegal mini-series. The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews former Director of LPM at Clifford Chance, and founder of Telescope, Aaran Scott. The topic is LPM by Design - Engineering Legal Delivery at scale. We focus on three key areas: Then and Now: How legal work has historically been delivered and why it’s no longer enough, and why...

Episode twenty is the second in our #TransformingLegal mini-series. The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews co-founder of Elevate Legal John Croft. John and John discuss the shifting landscape in legal service procurement, the fast evolving legal ecosystem, and how ALSPs are helping to reshape effective and efficient delivery models.    IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all vi...

Episode nineteen is the first in our enabling #TransformingLegal mini-series. The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue interviews leading consultant and renowned Legal Transformation expert Justin North. The conversation focuses on three critical components: The Human Side of Transformation: Psychology, Behaviour and Culture in Legal Ops. Grounding transformation in behaviour, culture, and leader...

Episode eighteen is a first on the podcast, LOPSided host John O'Donoghue interviews his first non-human guest as we navigate a critical question: what happens when AI takes on business development in law firms? To find out, John interviewed Leonard, an agentic AI developed by Legal Engine, a UK-based legal tech company building AI tools designed to help firms automate operations, scale efficientl...

In episode seventeen, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Dan Winterfeldt (Regional GC at Jefferies). In a continued celebration of PRIDE, we're joined by trailblazers transforming the world of legal operations. On this episode, we explore the evolution of the GC role into an operational thought leader - aligning legal with business strategy through dashboards, KPIs, and cross-funct...

In episode sixteen, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Chris Hanley (Head of Pricing and Commercial at Ashurst). In celebration of PRIDE Month, we're joined by trailblazers transforming the world of legal operations - Chris is not only pioneering smarter, more equitable pricing models, but also leading with authenticity and courage. Today, we explore how innovation and identity...

In episode fifteen, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Karen Rayment (Founder and CEO of Marble Grange Recruitment). In celebration of PRIDE Month, we're joined by a trailblazers transforming the world of legal operations. For Karen, that's not only by pioneering smarter, more equitable recruitment, but also by leading with authenticity and courage. Today, we explore how talent...

In episode fourteen, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Kevin Wheeler (Founder and CEO of Wheeler Associates). Kevin and John touch on growing key clients and the low-hanging fruit of BD, the role of Legal Operations on pitches and delivering work, and why Law Firms need to stop pitching for everything! Topics include: Growing key client relationships. The low hanging fruit in...

In episode thirteen, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Kevin O'Sullivan (Global Director of Legal Project Management at Baker McKenzie). Kevin and John cover how to set LPM functions up for success, how to win hearts and minds with internal stakeholders and external clients, creating FOMO between lawyers, staying ahead of an ever-evolving LPM and broader Legal Operations marke...

In episode twelve, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Amanda Chaboryk (Head of Legal Data and Systems at PwC). Amanda and John discuss how law firms are navigating the GenAi evolution and discuss practical deployment in legal service delivery. Topics include: How lawyers can work more effectively alongside Generative AI, and how it changes the role of legal professionals. The e...

In episode eleven, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Chantelle Jalland (Associate Director of Digital Services and e-discovery at Ashurst Advance). Chantelle and John discuss how law firms are using e-discovery systems, not just as a tool for litigation, but as a strategic offering for clients. This includes how firms are leveraging e-discovery tools to manage risk, ensure com...

In episode ten, The LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Luc Baldwin (Leading expert in Legal Operations recruitment) to discuss how to recruit, retain, and develop talent in a competitive Legal Operations landscape. The podcast covers key topics including: Recruiting LegalOps Talent: How would you describe the current landscape for recruiting LegalOps talent? Are there enough skille...

In episode nine, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Richard Burcher (Leading expert in law firm pricing) to discuss developing trends and challenges in the ever evolving world of law firm pricing. The podcast covers key topics including: What are the biggest pricing related challenges in law firms right now? Are pricing experts reporting back on clients changing needs and behaviour...

In episode eight, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Alex Liddle (Director of sales at PwC) to discuss what not to do when engaging clients, and how to build deep and long term relationships by avoiding common pitfalls. The podcast covers key topics including: What is it about law firms that clients complain about the most? Which aspects of legal services they find most frustrating...

In episode seven, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Shakeel Sameja (Legal Operations Manager at UBS) to discuss how Law Firms are using their Legal Operations capabilities to enhance the client value proposition.   The podcast covers key topics including: How large financial institutions measure value from law firms. Whether clients are increasingly partnering with their panel fir...

In episode six, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Steve Jones (Managing Director of M&A, Litigation and Tax at AJ Gallagher) to discuss which insurance backed solutions are available in the market, how they are helping law firms and clients to consider risk in a different way, and the vital role that Legal Operations professionals play in getting these solutions from theory to...

In episode five, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Alex Smith (Senior Director at iManage) to discuss navigating AI & Digital and successfully implementing digital strategy. The podcast covers key topics including: The differences between working in a law firm and in a world leading legal tech firm. What is the main thing law firms get wrong when deciding whether to buy or bui...

In episode four, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Verity Jackson-Grant (Head of Pricing at Simmons & Simmons) to discuss the emergence of insurance backed solutions, and how more progressive law firms are using these solutions to offer innovative risk sharing pricing structures to their clients, whilst mitigating their downside risk. We investigate whether these policies are...

In episode three, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Liam Marshall (CEO at Metamorf) to discuss how law firms could (and should) be leveraging their data to improve business performance and bring new insights, products and services to their clients.   The podcast covers key topics including: - Key data management principles that firms should be considering. - What firms are doing (...

In episode one, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by David George (Global Director of Legal Project Management at Mayer Brown) to discuss all things LPM at Law Firms. The podcast covers key topics including: - Differentiating between LPM as a Professional Service and an Administrative Function. - The parts of the offering the clients should be paying for. - Emerging trends by areas o...

In episode two, LOPSided Podcast host John O'Donoghue is joined by Georgina Thorpe (Head of Pricing at Herbert Smith Freehills) to discuss all things pricing and value. The podcast covers key topics including: What do Clients really see as value from law firms? The different approaches to panel pricing and matter pricing. The growing maturity in Clients understanding of commercial pricing structur...