Key Takeaways
- Empathy is a critical skill. The panelists emphasized that empathy is a critical differentiator between good and great lawyers. This means not just understanding stakeholders’ concerns, but making them feel heard and understood. As Shaun noted, without empathy, people will tune you out, making it impossible to do your job effectively as a lawyer.
- Focus on outcomes, not just activities. Moving beyond tracking simple activities like the number of contracts reviewed to measuring meaningful outcomes is the way to actually tie metrics to business impact. Legal teams should tie their work to company OKRs and focus on metrics that demonstrate real impact, whether that’s revenue influence, risk reduction, or other strategic outcomes.
- Technology should enable strategic work. The panelists discussed how AI and legal tech should be used not just for efficiency, but to create space for more strategic work. Erica Pham shared how her team uses AI to automate contract analysis, freeing up lawyers to focus on higher-value activities. The goal isn’t just to do more work faster, but to enable legal teams to operate more strategically.
- Community is essential for growth. All panelists emphasized the importance of building professional communities and networks. Whether through formal groups like Tech GC or informal mentorship relationships, having a community to learn from and lean on was described as essential for career development.
Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney. Use of and access to any of the resources contained within Ironclad’s site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Ironclad.
