Judith Flournoy
There’s a new organization in the legal industry: the Association of Legal Technologists (a.k.a. ALT). It has a hefty goal — to get everybody at the same table. That means technologists, lawyers, vendors, designers, financiers, consultants, and others who want to solve legal problems.
ALT will be debuting its first conference on February 11-13, at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The inaugural event is called “ctrl ALT del: Networking Rebooted.”
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If you’ve been active in some of the major legal groups, you won’t be surprised to see the ALT’s executive board members:
- Rick Hellers, President and CEO of nQueue and founder and executive director of ALT.
- Cathy Reilly, Executive Director of Martin, Clearwater & Bell, headquartered in New York City.
- Kelli Kohout, Chief Administrative Officer of Davis Wright Tremaine, a Global 100 firm known for their implementation of Design Thinking through their “De Novo” program.
- Judith Flournoy, Chief Information Officer of Kelley Drye & Warren, headquartered in New York City. (She is based in the Los Angeles area.)
(See list of “The Founding Circle.”)
I asked Flournoy about the launch and the upcoming conference. But first, a bit of background. Flournoy, in her firm profile, writes: “I thrive under the constant state of change that IT management demands, where total connectivity and rapid evolution are the requirements for sustainable profitability and a competitive edge.”
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Flournoy has two plus decades of law firm IT and operations experience working for Am Law 250 firms. She offers expertise in designing IT strategies that align with business priorities and support expense reduction, the firm notes. Her awards include the “IT Director of the Year” from Law Technology News; National Law Journal’s “50 Business of Law Trailblazers & Pioneers”; and the “Global Top 100 CIOs” by City Tech Magazine. She is a frequent writer and presenter for ALM, International Legal Technology Association, among other organizations.
Three Questions for Judith Flournoy
1. You are among the leaders who are launching the Association of Legal Technologists (ALT). What inspired you to dive into this organization?
Flournoy: ALT addresses business partners, law firm and law departments, with the goal of working together to “think differently” so we can collaborate and creatively solve problems. Strategic partners (otherwise known as vendors) have been kept at arm’s length — and only invited into the conversation when there have been concerns with a particular product or service.
Our clients want us to be more agile, imaginative, and responsive — in ways we may not have been in the past. And they want us to consider alternative approaches for empowering attorneys, staff and other professionals across our industry.
ALT intends to break down the barriers and get everyone to the same table.
2. ALT will be launching its first conference, “ctrl ALT del: Networking Rebooted,” on February 11-13, at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, in Scottsdale, Arizona. What are the agendas, and who would be most likely to benefit from the event?
Flournoy: The keynote speaker will be Margaret Hagan, lecturer at Stanford University’s Institute of Design (and a Fellow at Stanford Law’s Center of the Legal Profession). She will be discussing “Legal Design Thinking” methodology and how to apply it to Legal Technology. As Hagan describes it, Design Thinking fundamentally means taking a creative, experimental, and user-centered approach to how legal services are provided.
The Two Tracks
The “Changing Legal Landscape” track is focused on strategy, business, and using “Design Thinking” as an approach to problem solving and innovation. The audience for that track will be of interest to chief information, innovation, and technology officers, executive directors, director of administration, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, or those in the managing partner role as well as anyone involved in practice management, knowledge management, and matter budgeting. It also will help business owners, our strategic partners.
The DevOps track will focus on the more technical audience, with a hands-on lab. The audience potentially includes, directors of information technology, managers of systems or operations, systems engineers, or developers. Right alongside this group would be those within the strategic partner community who are responsible for development of products and services and delivery of same.
We are hopeful that by bringing Design Thinking to the fore that we will be able to guide our industry forward using repeatable processes that are well defined thus minimizing disruption.
3. Aside from the conference, how can ALT help the legal profession? What goals do you have for ALT?
Flournoy: Our goals are straightforward. Give everyone an equal opportunity to contribute — and ultimately succeed in an ever-changing and competitive world. To provide those who are new to our industry or well-seasoned professionals a chance to evaluate new ways to approach their work — whether in a law firm, law department, or one of the many strategic partners.
Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX: The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics and a freelance writer for Above The Law and other media. She co-hosts Law Technology Now (Legal Talk Network) and is a member of the California Bar. Monica can frequently be found at Yankee Stadium. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @MonicaBay.