The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/139453
case studies Consiliaria: Not the Godfather's Advisor by Sherry Kappel of Litéra The role of "chief consiliaria" is an emergent one, alright — quite literally so. Try searching the title on LinkedIn, and it returns a single record — mine. Conduct a Web search, and you'll get multiple pages of results all about me; interspersed with a few entries about Tom Hagen of "The Godfather," that is. Let me tell you a bit more about this newfound role. Realizing the steep transition for technologists and business users alike, my organization created the chief consiliaria role to help firms and corporate law departments navigate from personal workflow systems to collaborative ones — a shift that invites new ways of working while significantly raising requirements for content risk management and increased security. Not the Godfather Making My Transition Let's begin by clearing up the role's affiliation with the Corleone family. Yes, the etymology of Hagen's Italian title consigliere is consiliarius, the Latin word for "trusted advisor." While Hagen advised his only client on disreputable business practices, this consiliaria advises the industry on the legal use of technology, or — better said — the use of legal technology. An offer they can't refuse! Because much of my career was spent submerged at the cursorend of the technology pool, I charted my own professional transformation through a fusion of purposeful pursuits: An Emerging Need and a Role To Fit So, what emerging need does this role address? And what does a chief consiliaria do, exactly? With a big tip of the hat to Cisco CEO John Chambers for his keynote's powerful opening line, "Market transitions wait for no one," our emerging need is the equally powerful corollary: "Platform transitions wait for no one." While our business leaders realize and adjust to market transitions for the delivery of legal services, we in technology leadership must align our platforms, expertise and roles to match. 30 Peer to Peer •In 2007, I enrolled in a two-year professional master's program at Northwestern University, earning a Master of Science in communication systems and strategy. The program was designed specifically to "align IT strategies with company business objectives." Given I had no formal business education, this was an important initial step for me. •Between 2007 and 2012, I led nearly 100 firms on their migrations to the business-altering technologies of Microsoft Office 2007, 2010 and 2013, focusing on the improvement of information assets. •In late 2012, I earned the Association for Information and Image Management's (AIIM) Certified Information