Stacking Legal Skills: How Stints at Big Law, Biz Dev and and Legal Ops Paved the Way to the C-Suite for Akshay Verma (COO, SpotDraft)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
Release Date: 02/19/2026
Stacking Legal Skills: How Stints at Big Law, Biz Dev and and Legal Ops Paved the Way to the C-Suite for Akshay Verma (COO, SpotDraft)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
, COO of explores his non-linear journey through the legal industry. From his early days as a big-law paralegal to lawyer to a business development role to leading legal operations at tech leaders like Facebook and Coinbase, Akshay shares his unique perspective on why the most successful legal departments prioritize process over technology. The conversation dives deep into the realities of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), the evolution of the "agentic" legal tool, and why change management is the biggest hurdle for legal innovation. Akshay also discusses the "underdog mentality" that drew...
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The Legal Ops Force Multiplier: How Nextdoor GC Sophia Contreras Schwartz Built a Lean Legal Team From Scratch
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
, General Counsel at , discusses her unique journey of building a legal department from the ground up. Sophia discusses how her background as a musician and fitness instructor informs her collaborative leadership style and why Nextdoor identifies as "Middle Tech"—a category of companies often overlooked by one-size-fits-all regulations. The conversation explores the strategic value of hiring Legal Operations early, the specific tech stack that keeps a lean team of eight efficient, and why "versatility and curiosity" are the most important traits for in-house counsel today. Key Takeaways: ...
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Tokenization of Real World Assets: From Art to Real Estate to Private Equity (Lucas Moskowitz, General Counsel, Robinhood)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
Lucas Moskowitz, General Counsel at Robinhood returns to the show to talk tokenization of Real World Assets and the current state of crypto legislation. Lucas updates us on Robinhood’s evolving demographics, noting that while the platform remains a hub for first-time investors, the customer base is maturing alongside the platform's product offerings, such as retirement matching and advisory services. Moskowitz also highlights the company's commitment to financial literacy. The core of the conversation shifts to the shifting regulatory landscape regarding cryptocurrency and the potential for...
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Bridging Law Firm Silos: How Law Firms Can Maximize AI-Driven Cross-Selling (James Barclay, CEO Passle)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
In this episode, CEO of , discusses how legal technology is evolving to solve a big challenge in the legal industry: cross-selling. James shares the journey of Passle—from its roots in the early internet gold rush to becoming a leading thought leadership platform for the Am Law 200. The conversation covers Passle's new AI-driven tool, , which helps attorneys overcome the "trust and awareness" barriers that prevent internal collaboration and revenue. James explains that while content marketing is essential for lawyers to showcase expertise, the real value lies in how that expertise is shared...
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Best of 2025: Building a Modern IP Infrastructure and Protecting Creators in the AI Age (Andrea Muttoni - President Story Foundation)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
One of the most listened to episodes in 2025 featured a conversation with Andrea Muttoni, President of . The discussion explores how blockchain technology is being used as a foundational infrastructure for intellectual property (IP), aiming to simplify and modernize the process of registration, licensing, and monetization for creators and IP owners. Muttoni details his journey from a bedroom music producer to a product manager at Amazon and eventually to a leader in the blockchain industry, driven by a passion for the intersection of technology and creativity. The conversation delves into the...
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Best of 2025 - From IP Lawyer to Investor to CEO to Legal Ecosystem Builder (Avaneesh Marwaha, Litera CEO)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
Avaneesh Marwaha, the CEO of , visits the show to discuss his journey from IP lawyer to becoming a legal tech CEO and investor. He discusses the motivations behind his career pivot, including his desire to be a decision-maker and his passion for the business side of law. The conversation delves into the evolution of Litera, from its origins as a document-focused migration software company to its current role as a comprehensive legal tech ecosystem. Avaneesh highlights the company's strategic shift from acquiring to building new technologies. He also emphasizes the importance of Litera’s...
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Best of 2025 - Benchmarking Legal AI: Measuring the Delta Between Man and Machine (Anna Guo Legalbenchmarks.ai)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
In one of the most popular episodes of the year, Founder discusses her organization's research that tests whether artificial intelligence custom-made for legal tasks better than general AI tools. Anna is a former BigLaw lawyer who left the practice to become an entrepreneur and now focuses her energies on quantifying the utility of AI in the legal industry. Anna's initial anecdotal research for colleagues quickly revealed a strong community interest in a systematic approach to evaluating legal AI tools. This led to the creation of Legalbenchmarks.AI, dedicated to finding out where...
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Best of 2025: The Future of Real Estate is Here (and It's on Blockchain) -Daniel Rollingher (GC Fabrica)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
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Best of 2025: Building and Documenting Better Legal Workflows: Insights from Systemology Author David Jenyns
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
In the most listened to episode of 2025, author of "" and business systems expert, , discusses the importance of systemizing business processes, even in the nuanced field of law. Jenyns debunks the myth that legal work is too bespoke to be systemized, explaining how just like any other business, documenting legal workflows unlocks scalability and creativity. He shares his journey from digital SEO agency owner to becoming a systems expert and outlines the seven steps of his Systemology framework. Key Topics: The importance of documenting processes in any business, including legal services. ...
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Future-Proofing Legal Ops: AI Literacy, Innovation and Augmentation (Meredith Kildow, President Consilio)
Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
Meredith Kildow, President of Consilio discusses her career path from finance to leading global operations and delivery for one of the largest companies in the legal and eDiscovery space. Meredith shares insights into building a revenue organization from the ground up and the shift to her current role overseeing operations and delivery for a highly acquisitive company. The conversation focuses on the practical, present-day applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the legal industry, examining how it’s moving beyond "innovation theater" to drive ROI, efficiency, and cost reduction in...
info_outlineAkshay Verma, COO of SpotDraft explores his non-linear journey through the legal industry. From his early days as a big-law paralegal to lawyer to a business development role to leading legal operations at tech leaders like Facebook and Coinbase, Akshay shares his unique perspective on why the most successful legal departments prioritize process over technology.
The conversation dives deep into the realities of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), the evolution of the "agentic" legal tool, and why change management is the biggest hurdle for legal innovation. Akshay also discusses the "underdog mentality" that drew him to the startup world and the future of AI in legal workflows.
Key Takeaways:
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Process First: Technology is not a "magic pill" for broken workflows; centralized repositories and defined approval chains must come first.
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The Power of BD: Business development skills (evangelism and resilience) are critical for successful legal operations leaders.
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The "Holy Trifecta" of Legal Tech: Every department needs a CLM, a Spend Management tool (at scale), and an agentic Workflow/Intake tool.
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AI vs. Lawyering: AI will replace non-legal tasks, not the lawyers themselves, making AI literacy a new standard for the profession.
Episode Credits
Editing and Production: Grant Blackstock
Theme Music: Home Base (Instrumental Version) by TA2MI