Building a Durable Legal Ops Function with Sanofi's Dimitri Lucas

On this episode, Dimitri Lucas (Legal Operations & Digital Transformation Manager at Sanofi) discusses his approach to developing an effective legal ops function in high-pressure corporate legal environments.Dimitri also shared tips for navigating change management, thoughts on the benefits of building upon small wins, and insights into the customer success principles he's found to be effective in legal operations.

On this episode, Lindsay Schuyler (Outside Counsel Strategy & Spend Manager at John Deere) joined the show for an in-depth discussion about how to effectively select, manage, and evaluate outside counsel at scale.Lindsay also shared her insights into how to demonstrate the value of the legal department to the broader business, and how legal ops can position themselves at the forefront of technological innovation.

In his final interview as host of the In-House Outliers podcast, Alex Kelly sat down for a candid conversation with Brightflag's Head of Community Anna Richards, who will be leading the show going forward.During their discussion, they touched on the value of community for legal ops professionals, how legal teams are balancing "efficiency vs. effectiveness" when evaluating AI tools, and ways to strengthen relationships with outside counsel.

On this episode, Adam Becker (Director of Legal Operations at Cockroach Labs) joined the show to discuss the current legal technology landscape, how generative AI will impact outside counsel partnerships, and the unique challenges of building out a legal ops function.

On this special episode of In-House Outliers, Brightflag's Kevin Cohn returns to share his annual legal operations and legal technology predictions for 2026.

On this episode, ⁠Tim Parilla⁠ (Strategic Advisor and former CLO at ⁠LinkSquares⁠) joined ⁠Alex Kelly⁠ for a fascinating conversation about:Why legal leaders need data to effectively manage their legal budget and strengthen outside counsel partnershipsThe impact good financial acumen can have on legal strategy⁠Tim⁠'s incredible career journey and his biggest takeaways from serving as a GC and CLO

On this episode, Alexander de Nerée (External Firm Relationship Counsel at Ericsson) joined Alex Kelly to discuss:-Alexander's philosophy when it comes to managing outside counsel relationships-Ways to set expectations with law firms regarding AI use, and develop more open dialogues-Alexander's fascinating career journey and his best advice for aspiring in-house legal professionals

On this episode, Ryan Black (Chief of Staff, Legal at DoorDash) joined the podcast recently to share his expert insights into:-Common pitfalls legal ops can encounter during legal technology evaluations—and how to avoid them-The skills he cultivated on his journey from Paralegal to Legal Operations Manager to Legal Chief of Staff-His experience building out a legal operations function, and how he leverages AI in his day-to-day to work more efficiently

On this episode, Stephanie Palmieri (Head of Legal Operations at CyberArk) joined Alex Kelly to discuss:-The keys to effective change management—including how to measure the success and necessity of legal technology implementations-How the size and maturity of an organization's legal function dictate what its priorities will be from an operations standpoint-The takeaways from her own incredible career journey, which began in television production and ultimately led her to the field of legal ops

On this episode, Terrene Collins (Director of Legal Operations & Chief of Staff to the CLO at Panasonic North America) joined the podcast to discuss:The importance of building relationships and engaging with stakeholders throughout the organization to build an effective legal ops functionHow she evaluates legal technology to ensure the tools she secures for the legal department are a good fit Terrene's thoughts on AI as a value-multiplier, and where she sees it making the biggest impact for in-house teams