BOSTON, and SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- FoundationLab, the leading legal technology and design development firm, announces the launch of its advisory board to provide strategic guidance as the company expands its footprint in the legal industry. FoundationLab offers product design, product management, and product development capability to law firms, in-house legal departments, and legal innovators.
In its mission to re-design the ways in which legal services are delivered and consumed, the team has worked with global law firms and corporate legal departments to deliver award winning digital products. The additions of Christie Guimond, Dean Khialani, and Dennis Kennedy to the team as advisors bolsters the team's commitment to being the industry leader for innovation, product design and development.
"We are delighted to have such an incredible group of advisors join our team. We've gotten to know Christie, Dean, and Dennis over the past few years and jumped at the opportunity to bring them into FoundationLab in more formal roles," says Mike Cappucci, partner, FoundationLab. "Individually, they bring a unique perspective and can support different aspects of our business. Collectively, they provide an expansive understanding of the legal industry and have already added tremendous value to our team."
FoundationLab Advisory Board:
Christie Guimond
Christie Guimond is an experienced strategy and innovation manager at Bird & Bird LLP, who has worked at the forefront of disruption in the legal industry for over a decade. She describes herself as a "project manager by trade" and has a Masters (with Distinction) in Project Management from Newcastle Business School. Her first foray into the world of legal innovation came in 2011 when she developed and managed one of the first legal project management capabilities in the London market.
People-driven change, organisational strategy and innovation are her passion and she subsequently moved on from legal project management into more strategic and innovation roles. She has had the opportunity to work on numerous innovation initiatives - including developing and implementing new legal services and technology-driven client solutions. Christie also spends significant time monitoring the changing legal landscape and advising senior executives in her own firm, as well as clients, on how to respond to these changes to the business of law. She also works closely with several legal technology start-ups, advising them on areas including strategy and funding. Christie has been published in several books, including: (1) Strategic Innovation as an Emerging Firm Function: Innovating Strategically; (2) New Directions in Legal Services: Implementing and Sustaining Change; and (3) Career Development for Women Lawyers.
Christie is also the co-Founder of "She Breaks the Law", a network for female leaders of innovation within the legal industry. She Breaks the Law provides a platform for women in leadership to build their strategic networks by connecting with like-minded women, to widen their opportunities to develop themselves and others, to share experiences and to create new ideas with other innovative women from all over the world.
"I have known FoundationLab for a few years and have watched from afar as they evolved into an expert team of legal product developers. I have long believed in the value of productising legal services and the industry, too, is beginning to embrace and capitalise on this concept. I believe that FoundationLab they have a strong team, and a strong ethos that will enable them to maximise the opportunities posed by this trend, and I am absolutely delighted to be working with them at this critical juncture."
Dean Khialani
Refusing to be constrained by the stereotypical label of CTO, Dean brings a unique approach to leveraging technology towards business value and entrepreneurship. His expertise ranges from a strong foundation in computer science to experience as a technology executive in diverse industries including education, healthcare, finance, and legal services. A staunch advocate of using technology to spearhead innovation, he was instrumental in the launching of information systems that streamlined matter management and litigation financing for one of the premier innovators of legal services in the U.S. southeast. Dean currently serves as CTO at Nextlaw Labs, a subsidiary of Dentons, where he is responsible for overseeing the development and expansion of all of the company's legal technology products and spearheads technology due diligence during investment considerations.
A disruptive thinker by nature, Dean's modus operandi continues to be - "You don't have to think outside the box if you're not in it!"
"I'm delighted to be joining FoundationLab as an advisor. The team at FoundationLab has developed a sound strategy for product development and recruited a group of talented individuals to execute on the same. With a focus on the shared challenges faced by law firms and their clients alike, FoundationLab is well positioned to help shape the delivery and consumption of legal services across the entire client engagement lifecycle."
Dennis Kennedy
Dennis Kennedy is an information technology lawyer and legal technology author well-known for promoting innovation and the use of technology in the practice of law. He co-authored with Tom Mighell "The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies (2nd edition, 2018). A professional speaker and an award-winning author, Dennis wrote the legal technology column for the ABA Journal for many years, has co-authored several books and contributed to others, co-hosts The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast on the Legal Talk Network, and has written his blog, DennisKennedy.Blog, since 2003. Dennis retired as Senior Counsel for the Digital Payments & Labs group at Mastercard in 2017. He currently focuses on legal technology, innovation, speaking, writing, coaching and other interesting projects (http://www.denniskennedy.com) and is an adjunct professor in the LegalRnD program at Michigan State University College of Law. Dennis is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and recently finished a term of three years as chair of the board of the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center.
"In the current world of rapid change across the legal industry, client-focused initiatives for improving processes, creating mobile apps, and productizing services differentiate the leaders from the followers and might well be the key to survival for firms and other legal organizations. I'm so impressed with what FoundationLab is already doing and the opportunities in front of them. As a professor in the LegalRnD program at Michigan State University's College of Law, it's exciting to see theoretical concepts being turned into practical reality. As a longtime commenter on legal technology and legal innovation, I'm excited to be associated with a company opening the doors to the future."
About FoundationLab
FoundationLab was founded to help law firms and corporate legal departments reimagine how legal services are delivered and consumed. The team is comprised of passionate strategists, designers, and developers who in collaboration with our customers deliver legal products that delight your clients. Whether seeking validation of an idea, wanting to bring an identified project to life, or looking to innovate with a key client, FoundationLab is the trusted partner for delivering legal design sprints, supporting innovation lab initiatives, and developing digital products in collaboration with key stakeholders. FoundationLab customers include leading global law firms such as Baker McKenzie and Gunderson Dettmer, as well as corporate legal departments of the Fortune 500, including Visa.
SOURCE FoundationLab
Share this article