The Legal 500
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Legal Ops in the Spotlight: Insights from the 2024 LDO Index

January 23 2025
11:00 am UTC (GMT)

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Legal Ops in the Spotlight: Insights from the 2024 LDO Index

Overview

This year’s Legal Department Operations Index report, from the Thomson Reuters Institute, is based on a survey of Legal Operations professionals. It reveals that most departments report increasing pressures, including rising matter volumes, flat or decreasing budgets, and the highest levels of concern for cost control in the report’s history. At the same time, the function of legal ops and its role in driving technological transformation are higher priorities for organisations than ever before.

A panel of industry leaders, moderated by Kelsey Nicol, Director of Strategy for Thomson Reuters’ Corporate Legal business, will explore these findings and discuss how forward-thinking departments are managing spend and matter concerns today while preparing for tomorrow.

Key discussion points:

  • How departments are balancing rising matter volumes with tight budgets
  • Which tech transformations succeed, and which fail
  • Where matters are being shifted to reduce costs
  • Secondary priorities being sidelined due to budget constraints, and more.

Speakers

Moderator: Kelsey Nicol, director, corporates legal, Thomson Reuters

In her current role as the Go-To-Market Strategy Director for Corporate Legal Departments, Kelsey focuses on solutions that help law departments control cost, maximize efficiency and effectiveness, mitigate risk and demonstrate value. Kelsey joined Thomson Reuters in 2017 as a Legal Tracker Solution Consultant where she consulted with in-house legal departments to introduce Legal Tracker; the industry leader of spend and matter management solutions. Kelsey was also a member of Target Corporation’s Legal Operations team for eight years where she implemented alternative fee arrangements, firm diversity and firm scorecard initiatives.

Samantha J. Lofton, VP, global legal operations and chief of staff, Zimmer Biomet

As Vice President, Global Legal Operations at Zimmer Biomet, Samantha is responsible for defining strategy, designing, leading and implementing the operational aspects of the global Legal function, including, among other focus areas, financial management and budgeting, IT system needs, contract management, and outside counsel and vendor management. She joined Zimmer Biomet in June 2022, coming from the large law firm of Ice Miller LLP, where she served as the firm’s Chief Risk, Information Governance and Legal Project Management Officer. Prior to joining Ice Miller, she worked for the law firm of Greenebaum Doll & McDonald (NKA) Dentons, as well as ClinTrials Research Inc., a global contract research organization providing preclinical, clinical and post-marketing research services. Samantha earned college degrees from the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business in Management and Decision Science and Information Systems. She is a Certified Information Governance Professional (IGP) and holds a Legal Project Management Certification (LawVision), as well as a Legal Lean Sigma Institute Certification.

Erik W. Pérez, central legal operations officer, Shell

Erik W. Pérez is a 2002 graduate of The University of Alabama’s School of Arts & Sciences where he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry and holds an Executive MBA from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. Erik started his career as a Chemist before making a strategic pivot into the legal field, initially in Intellectual Property as a Registered U.S. Patent Agent and then in a leadership position in Legal and IP Operations. Erik is tasked with streamlining legal processes and increasing value through leading the law firm relationship management, strategic pricing negotiations, information technology, finance, strategy, metrics and data, intellectual property operations, and paralegal, and administration support across the global legal team. His leadership ensures the seamless alignment of legal operations with broader business goals across an international platform. Erik also had the fortune to spend two years living in The Hague, Netherlands on an international assignment in his current role where he played a critical role in shaping legal operations on a global scale. Erik and family now reside in Houston, Tx.

William Josten, senior manager – enterprise content, Thomson Reuters Institute

Bill consults with law firms nationally on issues related to law firm profitability, pricing and cost recovery. In previous roles with Thomson Reuters, Bill worked as a senior legal analyst, in account management with several large law firms, and as a Reference Attorney. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, he was an attorney in private practice, an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and a clerk at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.


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