The Law Firm of the Future: Harnessing Client Relationships to Drive Growth With HSO and Microsoft
LegalTech Talks – live 16th March 2023 at 15:00 (GMT).
During a time of market turbulence, high inflation and budget cuts, gaining intelligence and cementing improved relationships with clients is instrumental for future proofing firm growth.
This insightful panel discussion led by Christina Blacklaws former law society president, with key thoughts leaders; Razvan Cretu, Director of IT from CMS, Miriam Lloyd, Industry Sector Lead from Microsoft, Whit McIsaac, Global Legal Industry Director and Victoria Gregory, Industry Solution Architect & Practice Lead from HSO, looked into key industry challenges being faced by legal sector, and explore various tools and initiatives into how to drive growth and accelerate the needs of the business in a competitive landscape.
Discussion points will include:
• Changes in firm responsibilities and the need for business development
• Supporting and enabling lawyers in the business and marketing cycle
• Better client relationship intelligence for introductions and developing relationships
• Know your clients and your practice coverage for cross-sell and retention.
Chair
Christina Blacklaws, Managing Director
Blacklaws Consulting
Christina studied Jurisprudence at Oxford and qualified as a solicitor in 1991.
Christina Blacklaws is a former President of the Law Society of England and Wales, the representative body of over 200,000 solicitors.
She is an innovator in the legal field, having developed and managed one of the first ‘virtual’ law firms and set up the UK’s very first Alternative Business Structure with the Cooperative Group. She was also one of the first Directors of Innovation at a top UK firm.
She now runs her own consultancy business providing strategic advice particularly in the areas of transformational change, technological developments and diversity and inclusion.
Christina is a non-executive director for 3 large law firms and for a lawtech business specialising in resource management and provides bespoke advice to many more.
Christina is the Head of Faculty of the Legal Technology and Innovation Institute.
She holds a range of public appointments including chairing two UK Government bodies in lawtech- The LawTech UK Panel and Innovate UK’s Next Generation Services Advisory Group. She is a member of the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Support Advisory Group.
Christina is appointed to the Queens Counsel Selection Panel.
Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Christina is the former representative for the Women Lawyers Division on the Law Society of England and Wales Council and a current active member of Thomson Reuters Women in Leadership in Law Advisory Board. She also sits on the editorial board of Women Lawyers.
As President, she spearheaded the largest ever global research on women in law involving thousands of lawyers over 20 countries and resulting in three reports and a UK government backed Pledge.
Christina is the UK representative on the International Bar Association Council and the UK President of the World Jurist Association.
Christina speaks internationally on a wide range of business, legal and ethical topics and is a multi-award winning (for innovation and diversity and inclusion) published author, lecturer and frequent media commentator.
Having spent a large part of his career in senior IT positions, Stephen has a deep understanding of how to help clients get the most out of their investment in IT and ensuring delivery from the IT function.
Speakers
Razvan Cretu, Director of IT
CMS
Razvan is Director of IT at CMS, a prestigious international law firm headquartered in London. He is responsible for leading the technology team whilst defining and implementing the future vision and IT strategy of the firm.
With over 20 years IT experience, Razvan has a proven track record in delivering innovative and effective IT solutions that enable business transformation through IT. Razvan has a strong technical background acquired while working in various industries like education, telecom, travel, marketing research and ultimately legal. His expertise in enterprise architecture, datacentre consolidation and systems integration provide him with a unique perspective of the enterprise IT landscape. With the help of his team, Razvan designed and delivered a workplace experience unprecedented in the Legal sector promoting a mobile-first environment while preserving the security and confidentiality required by their profession.
He was the technical authority for CMS London headquarters move to a unique office space above Cannon Street station that was deemed by BCO to be the ‘Best Fit out of Workplace 2016’. He was also ultimately responsible for all the technology related aspects in the largest UK merger of three legal firms who combined into the new CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP entity.
Miriam Lloyd, UK Legal Industry Sector Lead
Microsoft
Miriam is Microsoft’s Legal Industry Sector Lead in the UK. Overseeing Microsoft’s relationships with legal firms, Miriam and her team partner with firms across the industry to support their digital transformation, empowering them to achieve more.
Whit McIsaac, Global Legal Industry Director
HSO
Whit McIsaac is the founder of legal360 and the Global Legal Industry Director for legal360’s parent company, HSO ProServ. With over 30 years of law office technology experience, Whit has spent the past 15 years working closely with Microsoft and their leading global law clients to architect, develop and implement the latest solutions for law office business development, marketing, and relationship intelligence. During this period, Whit and his team have been named Microsoft’s Global Partner of the Year 11 times and have implemented over 150 Dynamics systems for law practices throughout the world.
Victoria Gregory, Industry Solution Architect & Practice Lead
HSO
With two decades of in-house legal marketing and martech experience plus 15 years as a legal360 customer, both in the UK and USA, Victoria has a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by law firms. Victoria’s unique skills bridge the gap between IT and a firm’s user communities by looking at how technology can be tailored, developed, and adapted for use to benefit a firm’s business. Victoria’s move to HSO ProServ in 2021 now allows her to help law firms around the world leverage their investment in legal360.
Sponsor
HSO is the leading global provider of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solutions for the legal and professional services markets. Our solutions, including Projects360 and legal360, are in use by over 100,000 legal and professional services users across the globe. Our recognition and awards include 2021 Microsoft Partner of the Year US Winner for Intelligent Sales and Marketing (CRM) and 2019 Microsoft Partner of the Year Worldwide Winner – Dynamics 365 Sales (CRM), both based on our success with the legal360 solution. HSO legal industry team has been in business since 1990 and has been working with Microsoft and the Dynamics CRM solution since its inception in 2005.