The LOPSided Podcast

Episode 6: Getting ahead of the game - Changing how law firms and clients consider commercial risk.

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 application.
The podcast covers key topics including:
1. What are the main insurance backed products in the market and what do they do?2. Satisfying the lawyers professional obligation to offer ATE insurance to their clients.3. How these risk transfer solutions can also be used on defendant/respondent cases.4. What are Law Firms or clients actually buying?5. The insurance backed solutions that are experiencing the most growth.6. Law firms missing the opportunity to get ahead?7. How many firms are joining the dots on pricing, AFAs and commercial risk transfer options?8. Understanding more about Judgment Preservation Insurance (JPI) a product we're hearing lots about.9. Understanding how litigation funder "multiples" work.10. Leveraging LegalOps professional to identify the commercial drives and manager client expectations.11. How the early adopters are reaping the benefits of this as a USP.12. Is legal expense insurance a disruptor or facilitator for Litigation Funding?13. The benefits of having an LPM acting as the conduit to all parties involved.14. The process for pricing professional bolting insurance backed solutions onto risk based AFAs.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them.
All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses. Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.

Episode 5: Navigating AI & Digital and successfully implementing strategy in law firms

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 build tech.
Are businesses bolting AI onto anything and everything?
Is misinformation being shared around AI in Legal, by people over-estimating their knowledge in this space?
Are law firms doing enough around responsible usage of AI
There are current trends on law firms focussing on their data, does this align with buyer habits that you're seeing in the market?
Advice for professionals tasked with procuring AI or digital tools for their firms
Getting the tech implementation team right from the outset.
Will lawyers be obsolete by 2035?
Do law firms generally have large skill and knowledge gaps when it comes to AI?
If law firms truly understood the potential of their data, would they be investing more into harnessing it to understand their business better?
 
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them. All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses.
Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.

Episode 4: Are innovative insurance backed solutions a cheat code for law firm pricing?

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 something of a cheat code for LegalOps Pricing experts, and how experts can get ahead by learning how they work. 
The podcast covers key topics including:
- What are Insurance backed solutions and how do they work?
- Which solutions are most prevalent in the market right now?
- How a risk based approach to pricing is enabling more risk alignment and strengthening client relationships.
- How to introduce these solutions into your business model, and get internal stakeholders and clients comfortable with using them.
- Navigating regulatory challenges and staying compliant with your offering.
 
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them. All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses.  
Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.

Episode 3: Leveraging Law Firm data - Using your data to improve business performance.

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 (if anything) to address the underlying quality and structure of their data.
- MythBusters: separating the fact from the fiction on commonly heard statements across the legal and professional services industry.
 
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them. All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses.  
Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.

Episode 1: Mastering Legal Efficiency - The role of Legal Project Management in Law Firms.

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 of law.
- The importance of understanding legal processes.
- Recruiting the right professionals.
- How to build credibility with your legal team.
- How and when to use LPM as a cross-sell into other LegalOps service offerings.
- How to capture and track the value of your function, to help firm leaders understand the true ROI.
 
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them. All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses.  
Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.

Episode 2: Moving from cost of service to value of service - What Clients really want and value.

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 structures.
The value derived from Clients being able to directly converse with pricing consultants at law firms.
The evolution of pricing professional roles in BigLaw to commercial consultants for law firms.
How much firms are leveraging their own data to inform pricing decisions and understand cost of services.
The power of options - providing value to clients through optionality.
Whether clients are actually opting for Alternative Fee Arrangements or just reverting back to discounted rates.
Three pieces of advice for anybody looking to their tender stands out from competitors.
MythBusters - we challenge the validity of commonly held opinions within the industry.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and furthermore all views shared by the presenters and guests of this podcast in no way reflect the views of current nor previous companies that employ them. All views and expressions reflect personal views and not those of any affiliated businesses.  
Listeners should consider these discussions as personal perspectives and not official stances endorsed by any organisation. Always seek professional advice and verify information independently.