Beyond the Brief: Legal Leaders Shaping What's Next

In this webinar, we summarise (with timestamps):

^01:33 The panel outlines the shift in legal departments from process excellence to influencing strategy and driving measurable business impact.

^04:05 Kimberly Woodward explains how legal is moving away from being a purely risk-averse department to one that functions as a strategic business unit.

^06:13 Megan Niedermeyer emphasizes the importance of legal leaders fundamentally understanding the business to pair their unique skills with organizational priorities.

^07:35 LaTrece highlights legal's ability to see the entire business and act as a strategic advisor by being involved early in product or sales discussions.

^10:41 Kimberly notes that legal is a key business enabler because it touches almost every aspect of revenue collection and deal closing.

^12:27 Megan discusses measuring impact, suggesting that while qualitative "magic" is part of the role, legal should also track concrete metrics like the volume of training or questions answered.

^15:28 Kimberly addresses how to become a relied-upon advisor, noting that the goal is for the business to "run to" legal rather than from it during a crisis.

^17:49 LaTrece explains the importance of tailoring communication styles to specific executive stakeholders, such as providing different briefings for a CFO versus a General Counsel.

^40:18 Kimberly provides the most impactful operational advice: invest in documented processes before implementing tools like AI or CLM.

^48:11 Megan identifies technology proficiency as a critical skill, noting that lawyers who leverage digital tools will significantly expand their business impact.

^53:11 The session closes with a "quick fire" round advising leaders to shorten their communication by half and focus on the most important information first.

‍

“You know you're being relied upon when they're running to you and not from you. And it takes some time... but once you've proven that that's the kind of lawyer and legal department you are, you will see... your stakeholders internally [come to you].”
— Kimberly Woodward, VP of Legal and Chief of Staff at Okta

‍