loader from loading.io

#43 - Creating Buy-In and Driving Efficiency with Anna Richards

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Release Date: 05/08/2024

#72 - Moderna GC’s AI Strategy show art #72 - Moderna GC’s AI Strategy

Pearls On, Gloves Off

What does it look like when a general counsel doesn’t just adopt AI—but rewires her entire legal function around it? In this episode, Mary O’Carroll sits down with Shannon Thyme Klinger, Chief Legal Officer at Moderna and President of Moderna Charitable Foundation. Named by the Financial Times as one of the most innovative GCs of the past two decades, Shannon is reshaping what it means to lead a legal team—and a profession—through profound change. In this episode: “AI won’t replace lawyers, but…” Shannon lays out her bold vision: why lawyers who don’t harness AI may get...

info_outline
#71 - How to Hire (and Get Hired) in Legal Ops show art #71 - How to Hire (and Get Hired) in Legal Ops

Pearls On, Gloves Off

In this episode, Mary O’Carroll reunites with Anne Kerwin Payne of Kerwin Associates to dig into one of the most misunderstood yet high-stakes roles in legal: in-house legal operations. If you’re a GC hiring for legal ops—or a candidate trying to land that elusive “head of legal ops” title—this one’s for you. Anne brings decades of legal recruiting insight, a front-row seat to the evolution of the legal ops role, and a refreshingly candid take on what works (and what definitely doesn’t). In this episode: What Even Is This Job? Why the role of legal ops is still hard to...

info_outline
#70 - Data, AI, and the New Legal Ops Playbook show art #70 - Data, AI, and the New Legal Ops Playbook

Pearls On, Gloves Off

When legal ops meets the AI data revolution, what does it actually look like on the ground? In this episode, Mary O’Carroll sits down with Aaron Bromagem, Head of Legal Operations at Snowflake, to talk about what it means to lead legal ops inside one of the top AI and data companies—and why the role today is barely recognizable from just a few years ago. Aaron shares how his team is navigating breakneck change, massive expectations from leadership, and a vendor landscape that’s expanding faster than anyone can track. If you’ve ever felt like your strategy gets outdated before you even...

info_outline
#69 - Why VCs Are Betting Billions On Legal Tech show art #69 - Why VCs Are Betting Billions On Legal Tech

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Years before legal tech hit the mainstream, Jake Saper was already placing bets. As a General Partner at Emergence Capital, Jake helped fund foundational legal tech startups like Ironclad and SimpleLegal—long before most VCs would touch the sector. In this episode, Mary sits down with Jake to unpack his early insights and where he sees the industry heading next. From CLM to AI agents, they explore what’s real, what’s hype, and what buyers and founders should really be paying attention to. Jake isn’t just a savvy investor—he’s a pattern recognizer who sees how AI, pricing models,...

info_outline
#68 - Law Firms Enter The AI Arms Race show art #68 - Law Firms Enter The AI Arms Race

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Two years ago, Max Junestrand was pitching his legal AI tool in Stockholm. Today, he leads one of the fastest-growing and most talked-about startups in the legal tech space. In this episode, Mary sits down with the CEO of Legora to unpack what’s really happening at the intersection of AI and the legal industry—and what’s coming next. In this episode: Zero to Ninety: How Legora grew from 3 co-founders in a tiny room to nearly 90 employees in under two years—and why growth at that pace is both exhilarating and challenging. The AI Arms Race: Why Max thinks we're past the “zero to...

info_outline
#67 - The Multinational CLO show art #67 - The Multinational CLO

Pearls On, Gloves Off

When Mary O’Carroll arrived at Goodwin, she didn’t expect to find a "General Counsel in Residence" — and certainly not one with the powerhouse career of Genevieve Kelly. In this episode, Mary sits down with Genevieve, whose career includes GC and CLO roles at household names like Panera Bread, Petco, and Dole Food Company. Together, they dive deep into what it really takes to lead legal functions inside massive global organizations — and what Genevieve has learned transitioning between companies, cultures, and leadership roles. In this episode: Homegrown GC: How Genevieve rose from...

info_outline
#66 - So you wanna be a GC? show art #66 - So you wanna be a GC?

Pearls On, Gloves Off

When your board asks, “Why this GC?”, you'd better have a good answer. That’s where Anne Kerwin Payne comes in. In this episode, Mary O’Carroll sits down with one of the most trusted names in legal executive search. As founder and managing director of Kerwin Associates, Anne has helped place legal and compliance leaders at some of the most innovative companies in the world. She knows what it takes to stand out—and what gets overlooked. They dive deep into what CEOs are really looking for in today’s legal hires, and why pedigree alone won’t cut it. Whether you’re an aspiring...

info_outline
#65 - What It Really Takes to Be a CLO Today show art #65 - What It Really Takes to Be a CLO Today

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Producer’s Note: Oops—we hit a tech snag and the original episode got clipped. Here is the full version. Thanks for bearing with us! When April Miller Boise says she runs into burning buildings, she’s not exaggerating—she thrives in transformation. As EVP, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary at Intel, April brings a rare blend of legal precision and big-picture business leadership to one of the most complex roles in the C-suite. In this episode, April sits down with Mary to unpack what it really takes to become a CLO today—and why it’s nothing like the GC roles of the...

info_outline
#64 - Why Playing by the Rules Won’t Get You Promoted show art #64 - Why Playing by the Rules Won’t Get You Promoted

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Today, Mary sits down with Kathy Dockry, a seasoned leadership coach who has spent over 20 years accelerating the success of high-achieving professionals on their journey to executive leadership. Before stepping into the world of coaching, Kathy was a corporate powerhouse herself, rising to become CEO and North American President of a major British energy company. But she didn’t start there—her roots are in law. Having worked as a litigator in two large New York firms and serving as a general counsel before transitioning into operational leadership, Kathy understands firsthand the...

info_outline
#63 - Is 2025 The Year Law Firms Finally Transform? - A Conversation with Matt Sunderman, CEO of Harbor Global show art #63 - Is 2025 The Year Law Firms Finally Transform? - A Conversation with Matt Sunderman, CEO of Harbor Global

Pearls On, Gloves Off

Welcome to another episode of Pearls On, Gloves Off with your host, Mary O'Carroll, Chief Operating Officer at Goodwin. In this episode, Mary sits down with Matt Sunderman, CEO of Harbor Global, to explore the current state and future of legal transformation across law firms and corporate legal departments. Matt Sunderman brings over two decades of experience in the legal industry, leading Harbor Global, the newly branded combination of HBR Consulting, LAC Group, Wilson Allen, and others. His unique position at the intersection of law firms, corporate legal departments, and technology...

info_outline
 
More Episodes
In this episode of Pearls On, Gloves Off, Mary O’Carroll sits down with Anna Richards, Director of Global Legal Operations at John Deere. With over 15 years of experience, Anna brings deep insights from companies like Autodesk, Zendesk, and Micron Technology.Mary and Anna dig into:
  • Transitioning to John Deere: Anna details her onboarding journey, where Deere laid the groundwork by first understanding the role of legal operations and investing in its success.
  • Unique Challenges: As one of the few remote employees, Anna shares the importance of relationship-building and progress-making despite her unique work arrangement.
  • Diverse Roles: Anna reflects on her legal ops journey across different companies, sharing how no two roles are the same and how each experience is valuable.
  • Technology in Legal Ops: They discuss how John Deere aims to become a tech-forward company, targeting 10% recurring revenue by 2030. This requires significant investments in tech tools and IT partnerships.
  • Setting Up Success: Mary highlights the necessity of strategic hiring and the importance of investment in support, vendors, tech, and tools.
  • Creating Buy-In: Anna talks about Deere’s strategic approach to building the legal ops function, conducting surveys to identify opportunities and building a business case for stakeholder buy-in.
  • Current Projects: From implementing an enterprise-wide CLM system to aiming for 50,000 hours saved by 2026, Anna shares her ambitious goals and hiring plans.
Follow Us and Stay Connected:
 
linkedin.comlinkedin.com
Please reach out if I can be helpful at all. I love to provide (free!) advice on scaling… · Experience: Ironclad, Inc. · Location: San Francisco Bay Area · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Mary O'Carroll’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
 
linkedin.comlinkedin.com
Ironclad | 27,926 followers on LinkedIn. Ironclad is the smart way to make and manage digital business contracts. Now powered by Ironclad AI. | Ironclad is the #1 contract lifecycle management platform for innovative companies, powering billions of contracts every year. L'Oréal, Salesforce, OpenAI and other leading innovators use Ironclad to collaborate and negotiate on contracts, accelerate contracting while maintaining compliance, and turn contracts into critical carriers of operational business intelligence. It's the only platform flexible enough to handle every type of contract workflow, whether a sales agreement, an HR agreement or a complex NDA.
 
YouTubeYouTube
Ironclad is the digital contract platform loved by modern business teams.Contracts are business decisions trapped in administrative tasks. Ironclad is software that does all the administrative work better left for a computer, freeing teams -- legal, sales, procurement, finance, HR, etc -- to do substantive work and drive business strategy.We believe contracts should be business assets. Some document management vendors focus on contracts as risk assets: documents that, when poorly managed, expose companies to significant, surprising risks. While not knowing what’s in your contracts can certainly be dangerous, we prefer to focus on the valuable intelligence you can extract from them to drive…