Law Firms of the Future

Abstract

Kim Trajer (Chief Operating Officer, McCullough Robertson) and Milan Gandhi (Innovation Ambassador, McCullough Robertson/ Founder of The Legal Forecast) will explore the basics of how and why modern day law firms are pushing to innovate, and what this actually means in practice particularly for those seeking to enter the profession within the next few years. Kim and Milan will draw on several real-world case studies to chart the uptake of new technologies within the legal profession, and will touch on other kinds of innovation including with respect to law firm business models and the emergence of so-called ‘NewLaw’. Kim and Milan will conclude by facilitating a mini-hackathon with audience members aimed at envisioning what all of the above may mean for the law firm of the future.

Presenter biographies

Kim Trajer is the Chief Operating Officer at McCullough Robertson and for more than ten years has implemented innovation projects and driven cultural change aligned to strategy. Before that, Kim spent 15 years as a client facing lawyer, so has a unique understanding of the challenges facing clients and lawyers, and insights into how law firms operate.

Over the past decade, Kim has found the opportunities in a changing legal industry by being an enthusiastic early adopter (and adapter) of multiple new technologies, platforms and mindsets. In her current role as COO she has developed and implemented innovation strategies that have, enhanced clients’ experience, improved financial performance, increased people’s productivity and engagement, grown her firm’s professional standing and recognition, and exceeded our community’s expectations. Kim’s success is based on her own experience as a legal service professional and on her philosophy of staying connected to people at all levels, to understand their needs, embracing change as an opportunity, and always asking ‘is there a better way?’.

Milan Gandhi is McCullough Robertson’s inaugural Innovation Ambassador, and the Founder and National Director of nationwide legal innovation think tank, The Legal Forecast. Milan is also a former Advisory Board Member to the Centre for Legal Innovation. As McCullough Robertson’s Innovation Ambassador, Milan is tasked with introducing staff to innovation tools and mindsets, and advising the firm’s leadership on new methods, ideas and technologies with the potential to advance the ways in which the firm serves its client. He acts as a point of contact, an information source, a soundboard to bounce creative ideas, and an arbiter of innovation-related ideas. Milan graduated from the TC Beirne School of Law in 2017 during which time he was also selected as the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Student of the Year.