Innovative Thinker: Colin Levy Of Malbek

// I recently had the pleasure of talking with Colin Levy, in-house lawyer for leading contract lifecycle management company Malbek.

A well-known speaker, writer, and legal tech evangelist, Colin has more than a decade of experience in corporate transactional law and is often found educating lawyers on how to leverage technology to improve their delivery of legal services. He is on a mission to bridge the gap between tech and legal, advocating for ways technology can be a useful tool for lawyers instead of a fear-inducing obstacle. 

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Driven by communication and working to develop new methods to empower, inform, and inspire, Colin has been included in the Fastcase 30 in 2022, was a key speaker at TECHxpo2019, and has been featured in Above the Law and Bloomberg Law. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston College Law School, Colin currently lives in Massachusetts with his husband, Jared.

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Where do you work and what is your role?

I work for Malbek, a leading contract lifecycle management company. My role is a hybrid role. I serve as Malbek’s one and only in-house lawyer providing legal support to the entire company. I also support their marketing and sales efforts as their evangelist where I speak on webinars, podcasts, and at conferences on contracting and legal tech. 

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How did you get here in the industry? What led you to this point? 

My career journey has been indeed a journey. I always wanted to be a lawyer but envisioned being a “typical” in-house lawyer. Yet after first being exposed to technology working as an IT paralegal for a major New York City law firm, my taste of tech left a lasting impression. In law school little was mentioned about technology. I then spent the first year and a half after law school in a range of temporary roles in contract administration, compliance, and document review as I tried to find a permanent role. While that period was not the most enjoyable, it did reinforce my interest in technology and its relationship to the legal industry. In exploring this interest and sharing with others in the industry, it led me to becoming an outspoken advocate for legal tech.

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From your perspective, how is the legal industry changing? 

Entire books have been written on this topic, but I will do my best to briefly summarize the evolution of the legal industry. Change within legal has largely stemmed from several factors including technology, shifts in what clients expect and want from legal service providers, and an increased focus by many on closing the gap between those most in need of legal services and the historically speaking high cost of legal services. Automation tools are making accessing legal information faster, cheaper, and easier. Artificial intelligence is making the processing and analysis of data faster and more accurate. Alternative legal service providers are providing more competition as well as more focused legal services that better understand specific client needs. Clients have also grown in sophistication and expect more.

How do you believe LegalTech has changed the industry? 

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Legal tech is making what was once an obtuse, amorphous, and complex industry one that is more transparent, more accessible, and more responsive to the needs of those who need the legal industry’s help. Legal tech, however, has done more than just bring the benefits of technology to bear. It has helped induce innovation in the industry and encouraged those seeking to change how things have been done to do so. 

How has legal ops changed how companies engage law firms and legal services providers?  

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Legal operations are the bridge-builders and translators who bridge the gap between the legal world and the world of technology. They also continue to use data to drive more effective use of outside counsel by looking at their effectiveness and pricing. 

From your standpoint, how is technology transforming the practice of law? 

One area where change has occurred is with respect to data. More legal service providers are making increased use of data to drive decision-making whether it be in the context of litigating a matter and determining the best litigation strategy or figuring out contracting trends to improve or to support. Another area where change has occurred is increased efficiency by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks like creating documents or client intake. By automating these tasks, legal professionals can focus on higher-value work.

What effect will the use of big data have on companies from a legal perspective? 

The use of big data will continue to put a spotlight on privacy and how personal data is used and stored by companies. GDPR was just the start of what will remain a protracted battle between companies wanting to use and share data and regulatory authorities wanting to put constraints around such data. For lawyers this will mean that data privacy will continue to be a major area of focus even for those lawyers whose practices are not transaction heavy.

What do you think is going to be the biggest game changer?  

Currently Generative AI like ChatGPT that employ Large Language Models are having their day. Generative AI is not a fad or a trend but a remarkable advancement in artificial intelligence and one that portends future advancement that will continue to make performing tasks that once were time-consuming and complex just the opposite. This is game-changing and related advancements in AI will be game-changing as it reshapes what work is done by humans and by technology and, relatedly, what the job of many will look like in the future.

What is the biggest challenge facing the legal industry? 

The biggest challenge facing the legal industry has been and continues to be a cultural one. A culture that has long been driven to and dedicated to tradition, history, and one way to do things. Technology has upended this approach and that is good. Technology will continue to do so, but to achieve more change and at a broader level will require a change in culture. To change culture will require more education around new ways of doing things and showing that it works. 

What advice would you give technology companies playing in this space? 

Talk less and listen more. Be engaged with your potential clients and customers. Understand not just what their needs are, but how they work and why they work the way that they do. Build relationships with them BEFORE even considering trying to sell them on whatever solution your company makes. People do business and want to do business with those they trust. 

If you could change one thing about the practice of law, what would it be? 

The practice of law needs to be less about the lawyers and more about the clients. The clients should be the ones leading the relationship. Lawyers need to remember their inherent humanity and bring this sense of humanity with them when they talk with clients and when they are trying to bring on new clients. 

What do you think the environment will look like in 10 years? 

The environment for the legal space will be one where technology and people fit like hand in glove and data-driven analysis and decision-making is just an expected element of professional practice. This means that legal professionals will need to be tech-savvy and many will be proficient in coding. This means that lawyers and other legal professionals will be part of cohesive teams working alongside clients to provide services including building solutions.

As automation moves attorneys up the value chain, what other career opportunities do you see for attorneys of the future? 

As has been clear with the massive rise of Generative AI solutions like ChatGPT, there will be plenty of opportunities for attorneys of the future to become more adept at not just technology generally but being effective with providing the right inputs to get the right outputs. 

Some companies and firms are implementing diversity programs with teeth. How do you think this will change the industry? 

I’ve long said that diversity has many benefits for us all. We have so much to learn from the lived experiences of others if only we were to engage and listen and learn from each other. The legal industry has long been a largely homogenous one — in terms of people and in terms of perspectives. Making diversity a priority and paying more than lip service to it will allow for the industry to be more responsive to the needs of a complex society and better reflect the complexities of society writ large.

And now for some fun questions to get to know you better:

If you were stuck on a desert island, what are the three things you’d want to have with you? 

My husband, our cats, and a good science-fiction book. (Oh, and plenty of high-SPF sunscreen since the sun and I have a very tenuous relationship!)

What’s your favorite activity outside of work?

I love the outdoors so spending time in the mountains is my happy place, like the Rockies in Colorado.

What book are you reading now?

The third edition of Richard Susskind’s excellent book Tomorrow’s Lawyers.

What is your favorite podcast right now?

Legally Speaking powered by Clio by Rob Hanna.

What is your favorite food or drink?

Favorite cuisine is Chinese and favorite drink is a good smoky and peaty scotch.

Who inspires you the most right now in your career?

Bob Ambrogi and his longstanding reporting and analysis of all things legal tech related.

What’s your favorite thing to do at a legal industry conference?

Speaking with friends and just enjoying their company.

If you could take one “moonshot” for the legal industry for the next 3-5 years, what would it be?

I would say that the creation of a legal services provider that is solely focused on developing legal products and solutions for those most in need of legal services to close the access to justice gap.

Thank you for sharing your time with us. It’s always intriguing to engage with a like-minded innovative thinker moving the needle forward in our industry! 

Monica Zent is an award-winning entrepreneur, investor, business strategist, legal industry innovator, and trusted advisor to the world’s largest brands. Zent is also a successful inventor who holds various patents. She is the founder & CEO of ZentLaw, a leading alternative legal services provider in the United States that formed ZentLaw Labs to drive the development and adoption of innovative legal technologies in the marketplace. She is the founder of LawDesk360, an AI-powered workflow collaboration technology for legal departments and firms. She is also a prominent thought leader and public speaker, regularly writing for various publications on topics spanning from entrepreneurship and leadership to futurism and emerging technology. Her articles appear in publications including Bloomberg BNA, Reuters, Inside Counsel, Entrepreneur, Inc., Legal Technology News, VentureBeat, and Huffington Post. Zent has spoken before various audiences within and outside the legal industry, from venture capital-sponsored demo days to LegalTech events and various legal industry conferences, including South by Southwest, the International Bar Association, the Legal Marketing Association and more. Follow Monica on Medium, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Topics

Colin Levy, In-House Counsel, Legal Operations, Monica Zent, Technology