ILTA Awards
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/1536111
Influential Women in Legal Tech / K A T H R Y N D E B O R D pressing issues within the legal technology sector. Kathryn is particularly passionate about mentoring women in legal tech spaces. She hosts an annual Women in Legal Tech dinner to intentionally intermingle seasoned veterans with newcomers, creating and expanding a community for both. KATHRYN DEBORD Professional Accolades HBR Legal Lab, 2017-2022 The Institute for the Future of Law Practice, Board Member and Advisor, 2017-2021 Legal Week Innovation, BCLP Award, 2020 American Bar Association, Women of Legal Tech Award, 2019 Financial Times, Innovative Lawyer Finalist, 2019 Financial Times, Innovative Lawyers BCLP Award, 2018 vLex, Fastcase 50, 2017 Families First Colorado, Governing Board Member and Chair, 2009- 2016 Leadership Denver, 2014 Kathryn and her team at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner launched a legal ops consultancy division (BCXPonent) in 2015. They built upon the firm's expertise in legal operations and the in- house developed bespoke contract management technology that her team built to solve contract lifecycle management challenges. Kathryn led collaborations between her team and the firm's process team to integrate automation tools to support lawyers in managing and litigating high-volume portfolios. Additionally, they launched Cubed, a service that uses technology and processes to execute high-volume legal work in 2017. Kathryn's vocational transition from a litigation partner into an emerging but not well-known or defined role in 2014 required courage, adaptability, and willingness to learn. As a practicing lawyer, Kathryn was unaware of ILTA's existence. However, her role as Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's CIO focused on incorporating firm-wide innovative processes and technologies. She was amazed by the wealth of resources, connections, and information ILTA offered when she first attended ILTACON. Afterwards, Kathryn engaged with various aspects of the larger ILTA community. At ILTA, she found supportive spaces to share her learnings candidly with friends and peers across the industry. She began speaking regularly at industry events, sharing her journey with others and giving tips and tricks for circumventing missteps. Like other visionary legal professionals who joined the growing legal tech community over a decade ago, Kathryn takes mentoring very seriously. It is a core value, ingrained into every aspect of her professional presence and leadership decisions. At DISCO, she created an annual event, Food for Thought, to provide younger professionals with opportunities to engage with seasoned C-Suite professionals and converse about ILTA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE 2025 9