July 26, 2024

 Vinny Sachdeva

legal ops general counsel law department

With an unconventional career path combining legal practice, legal operations innovation, and business leadership, Elevate GC and COO Steve Harmon has a unique perspective on how general counsel, managing partners, and legal ops professionals can drive impactful strategic initiatives and achieve operational excellence.

From helping co-found the Corporate Legal Ops Consortium to his regular column, ‘Legal Ops Corner,’ in the Association of Corporate Counsel’s flagship publication, ACC Docket, Steve seeks to educate law leaders on how best to pursue, champion, and implement innovative approaches to service delivery that produce real, substantial, and sustained benefits.

Steve recently sat for an interview with law firm Seyfarth Shaw’s Pioneers and Pathfinders podcast, hosted by another trailblazer, J. Stephen Poor, who spearheaded Seyfarth’s use of Lean Six Sigma to innovate its legal service delivery and develop its award-winning client service model.

Broadcast in two parts, Part One traces Steve’s journey from entrepreneurship as a college undergrad to law school and subsequently to Cisco’s legal department, where he played a central role in establishing one of the most innovative and influential legal departments in the technology industry.

In Part Two, Steve shares his deep understanding of technology’s role in legal practice and discusses his current role at Elevate, where he continues to challenge traditional legal service models by working with customers and within Elevate on practical ways to improve efficiency, quality, and business outcomes.

Among the topics discussed:

• the critical importance of aligning delivery of legal services with business objectives
• why law organisation must shift from a ‘react’ to an ‘adapt’ mindset
• how best to balance competing factors when implementing new technologies
• recommendations for legal professionals seeking to navigate the evolving legal landscape

The interview, a must-listen for anyone seeking to innovate legal services, optimise legal operations, and improve business outcomes, is available on the Pioneers and Pathfinders page on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and Spotify.