May has been a lot more social (and I started to learn how to bind books by hand, but that’s a topic for another day), so that meant more time in-person than online learning.
I also got my first reader email – that had both encouragement and feedback in it, which I totally loved (and incorporated – see the Table of Contents of the blog here)!
If you wanted to do so too, I am on LinkedIn or email me at baru@attorneyatcode.com.
My favourite finds of May include an insight into the thinking of a LegalOps legend, a tale of natural language processing, a primer on project management, and a free course on UX/UI (super useful for legal designers!)
1. Mary O’Carroll: Time for a shift from legal ops to strategic ops
LegalOps is essentially when lawyers admitted that they don’t have to be jacks of all trades, especially in terms of business leadership. Think of it this way: if someone who understands legal pricing creates your pitch for you, they’ll likely do a better job and you can focus on drafting all day long. You can find a more eloquent definition and an array of super useful resources here.
My intro into LegalOps is still a work in progress, but in the meantime, check out the article on latest thinking of Mary O’Carroll.
Mary is a LegalOps legend, former Head of LegalOps at Google, and current Head of Community at Ironclad. But credentials aside, what I really like about this article is how she keeps on challenging the field she’s built, keeps on iterating, and creating more space for growth. Secondly, she stresses the importance of data, and I am here for that!
2. The Great A.I. Awakening
Yes, I am well aware that the article is from 2016, but hear me out: it tackles a topic that will imho make or break any legal tech startup in the future: natural language processing.
It is a tale on how Google Translate transformed towards machine learning “as a technical story, an institutional story and a story about the evolution of ideas“. It also presents multiple concepts in plain language, using stories, which I find great.
Still trying to grasp basics of AI? Check out an introduction in the Elements of AI.
3. Google Project Management certification
Sitting outside in the sun reading cool stuff online has not been the only thing occupying my time lately. I took on the six courses long Google Project Management certification, and it was a great decision.
As legal project management is my job that pays the rent, I always try to push myself to be better at it. The course is perfect for that – it is a combo of videos, readings, quizzes, interactive exercises, and hands-on document creation.
Just the amount of templates it gives you for inspiration? Priceless.
4. Codecademy free intro to UI/UX course
Codecademy released a free intro to user experience and user interface design. While it is not directly legal design oriented, its contents can be massively helpful. Especially to those lawyers, who are not experienced with the design process.
I took a first quick glimpse in the introductory readings, and so far so good. I will fully take the course later in June (once I am finally done with the Google PM course, haha), and I am very much looking forward to it!
5. May on Attorney@Code
Thank you for stopping by last month!
In May, we covered a whole lot of new topics:
- Czech intro to document automation – pokud vás zajímá automatizace právních dokumentů, tady se dozvíte, co a jak,
- We looked at strategies how to motivate lawyers to innovate amidst billable hours and general stress,
- I attended my first hackathon! Since it was awesome, putting together five reasons why lawyers should try hackathons was a breeze, and
- We concluded by my brain baby – do these to be a great Legal Project Manager with 10 practical, specific, and highly actionable tips for anyone who ever led a legal team
Any tips?
Did you find any other cool legal tech resources that you’d like add to spread the love?
Let me know in the comments!
-Attorney@Code
