A Q&A with Matt Wheatley, VP of Client Development at Priori

Matt Wheatley, VP of Client Development at Priori, has a unique perspective on alternative career paths for attorneys: Not only did he take one himself, starting his career practicing law and eventually moving into legal staffing and now business development at Priori, but he has also spent years working with attorneys and helping them pursue paths outside of the traditional model. In this Q&A, Matt shares some career advice for legal professionals looking to explore all of their options and reflects on his experiences as a practicing and nonpracticing lawyer.

The traditional legal career path can be limiting for many people, but it’s also a known quantity so it feels safe to follow. Looking back at your experience in law school, how do you think people can start to explore alternative legal career paths?

I think the reality is a lot of 22-year-olds are not thinking intentionally about law school. I went to law school because it seemed like the next logical step. Now, with the experience I have, there are a few things I would say that potential law students should do.

We should take a page from what most people who get their MBA do: They get real-world practical experience before they apply to go to business school. There are existing paths for people to take that approach in the legal industry. You can be a paralegal. There are programs for people who have just graduated, typically from top-notch undergrads, to go and work at the top firms and get a couple of years of experience while they decide whether or not to go to law school.

While that may not be feasible for the kid who went to University of Kentucky, like me, or another big state school that may not have the prestige to draw an offer from a big firm out of undergrad, there are other options too. You could work in a local law firm which very likely could be a litigation practice and you’ll get to see what that looks like.

And, increasingly, there’s an opportunity to work as a legal operations professional out of school. For example, getting a job as a legal ops coordinator at a medium or large-sized company that is starting to think more intentionally about how they run their legal department. Another option is to work at a legaltech company like Priori. Our Attorney Network team has been a feeder to lots of great law schools. They’re interacting with lawyers and getting to see what their life looks like and their quality of life and earning potential.

And, ultimately, you may find you don’t want to go to law school. You can be a legal operations professional or a corporate paralegal and make a great living just by staying on that path. So you can be in legal with or without your law degree.

You started off on a traditional legal career path but then went an alternative route. What made you pursue that path?

I almost went to work at a big legal recruiting firm right out of law school. But one of the people I met there during the recruiting process gave me some advice and said that I should take the opportunity to get some practice experience. He didn’t want me to jump into recruiting and a few years later be wondering whether I would have been happier as a practicing lawyer. At the time, I didn’t really care about being a practicing lawyer; I just wanted to live in New York. But I took that advice to heart even though I didn’t want to and I practiced for about a year and a half after law school.

I kept in touch with the person who gave me that advice and eventually they reached out again to revisit the conversation. As a lawyer, I wasn’t unhappy—I was doing some interesting things—but I still wanted to move to New York and I was in a better place financially and with my personal relationships to make the move. I certainly didn’t know that I was moving into something that could be just as fulfilling as a legal career can be, but I got lucky. I also ended up working under someone who was a fantastic mentor and boss and I was surrounded by other great people at the company.

What brought you to Priori?

Working in legal staffing around that time, in 2017, was a far cry from what it is today. It wasn’t as widely accepted in the legal industry and it was still growing. But by 2019, things were really taking off and people in the legal industry were thinking more about how to get work done more efficiently without adding headcount or sending work to large law firms. It started to click for me—what I was doing wasn’t legal staffing, it was helping people and law departments get work done more efficiently at better rates using different models than they previously had access to.

I started to nerd out on this idea and I wanted to be part of something on the cutting edge of this new environment, particularly something that was tech-enabled. I saw how technology was revolutionizing all of these different industries but it wasn’t as dominant in the legal world. That’s when I found Priori and reached out to Basha [Rubin, Priori CEO and Co-Founder,] on LinkedIn. She didn’t respond immediately, but by the time she shot me a message back I had seen more of the news about Priori growing and raising money. I met with her and the rest of the team and decided to join the company.

My move to Priori was kind of the first intentional move of my career. I thought, there is a ton of opportunity in this space and these people are really smart. I’m really thankful for the experience that I serendipitously gained at my previous job and how it forced me to grow because that set me up perfectly to be a part of Priori.

What has been the biggest surprise for you in taking an alternative career path as an attorney?

The biggest surprise for me is being at Priori and seeing that there is so much opportunity in the legal industry that’s not just following this traditional path that I had always looked for in the past. That path was: top law school, top law firm, in-house experience and available for 40-plus hours a week dedicated to a company.

What has been super motivating for me at Priori is to see that there are so many different paths that you can take in this industry that you don’t see every day. You might not see them on LinkedIn or when you’re looking at the background of the general counsel at a Fortune 500 company or an AmLaw 50 law firm partner.

You can go to a Big Law firm, you can get in-house experience and then you can hang up a shingle and be a solo practitioner and make really good money for yourself using the skills that you’ve learned. You can not go to a Big Law firm; you can not go to a law firm at all. You can start a data privacy consulting firm. You can go straight in-house at a tech company and start negotiating commercial contracts. If you can find the right niche and develop the right expertise, there is an opportunity for you to do really well.

There’s no path you have to follow, despite how it sometimes seems in the industry. You’re not doomed if you’re not following exactly what you’ve been told you need to follow because of the pristine examples that you’ve seen in the upper echelons of the industry. That’s been motivating for me working at Priori and seeing people who have taken those paths and helping to facilitate those paths. I have the opportunity to do that in a way I never would have in my previous role and certainly not as a practicing lawyer.

Follow Matt on LinkedIn for more insights into legal industry careers, how technology is changing the legal industry and much more. And if you’re interested in learning more about how Priori helps legal teams of all sizes work more efficiently, find out how it works or start an RFP today.


imDocShare is an innovative solution to conveniently live view, edit, search and sync iManage Work Server 10.2+ & iManage Cloud content within Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams.

The key Add-Ons of imDocShare

imDocShare One Teams app

imDocShare Teams app allows users to LiveView, Add, Edit, Search, and Sync any iManage Work Server 10.2+ (or iManage Cloud) content in Microsoft Teams as a personal app or Channel Tab.

Users can reference & insert document cards from iManage in Teams’ Conversations (Post), Save Microsoft Teams Channel Conversation Thread selectively to iManage and ensure Content Governance and Compliance

imDocShare Sync

imDocShare Sync allows users to automatically perform bi-directional/one-way sync of everything or selected folders/files, including metadata fields, between SharePoint, Teams Files, OneDrive Libraries, and iManage Workspaces/folder.

imDocShare Hybrid Search

imDocShare Hybrid Search provides the ability to Search multiple iManage and SharePoint content sources from one single integrated search interface in SharePoint.

imDocShare Content Browser

imDocShare Content Browser provides the ability to look up and reference any iManage content sources with your .NET, PHP, Java, or Full Stack web app.

imDocShare Attach

imDocShare Attach provides the ability to look up and link iManage documents within SharePoint List and Document Libraries.

Co-Authoring using Office Client

Users can co-author Office (version 2013 or above) documents saved in iManage right within SharePoint & Teams using Office Client like Word, Excel on their laptop.

imDocShare Admin

Users can centrally manage and enforce imDocShare Settings, including enable/disable/default-value setup of properties that can be otherwise modified by Page Admins in SharePoint WebParts and Users in Microsoft Teams’ Channel Tab.

Watch more> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAzHr2F3ztc


Litify has been selected as Overall Practice Management Solution Provider of the Year — for the second year in a row! — in this year’s fourth-annual LegalTech Breakthrough Awards. This prestigious awards program recognizes innovative companies, products, and services supporting the legal industry. Litify is one of the award-winning companies selected from more than 1,500 nominations across over 12 different countries!

Why was Litify selected?

Litify offers a premier practice management solution for law firms and a modern enterprise legal management solution for in-house legal teams. Our configurable practice management solution delivers a personalized work experience for every case type and role within a law firm — all on one platform.

Our solutions come complete with the capabilities law firms need, including matter management, document management and generation, intakes, timekeeping, and much more. Plus, the Litify platform is built on an open infrastructure, enabling firms to integrate and centralize their systems and data.

The platform’s power lies in our real-time reporting and interactive dashboards, enabling law firms to run their practices more efficiently and drive better legal outcomes and client experiences. For full service law firms, Litify helps leaders to showcase matter progression and historical results to drive repeatable business based on performance rather than price. Plaintiff firms leverage Litify to streamline and automate intake and case workflows while using predictive analytics to pair their best attorneys with the highest potential value cases.

What Litify CEO Curtis Brewer had to say:

We’re pleased to accept the Overall Practice Management Solution Provider of the Year award from LegalTech Breakthrough again this year. This win signals that the industry continues to shift toward a unified platform strategy, where multiple applications are available through one platform — and one login.

I continue to be impressed by our clients’ growth and success after switching to a centralized solution like Litify. The end-to-end capabilities of our platform help their teams operate more efficiently by harnessing the power of automated workflows that are configured to each case type and each team member.

As we look ahead to 2024, we’re eager to continue innovating on our single-platform approach and exploring the next-generation applications of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics that will further up-level the entire legal process.

What are the LegalTech Breakthrough Awards?

LegalTech Breakthrough Awards are conducted by LegalTech Breakthrough, a leading independent market intelligence organization that evaluates and recognizes standout legal technology companies, products, and services around the globe. The mission of their annual program is to conduct the industry’s most comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the top technology companies, solutions, and products in the legal technology industry today.

“Litify is a powerful platform and novel business approach that helps to usher the industry forward into a new way of working. Practice management encompasses a broad umbrella of functions, however, even in the 21st-century firms rely on multiple point systems which results in silos, manual work, and non-automated data,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director of LegalTech Breakthrough Awards. “With Litify, gone are the days of fragmented systems and rigid workflows. Litify has perfected the way to deliver software that’s unique to each firm while still serving the needs of the broader industry.”


In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, the art of eDiscovery is undergoing a transformative shift. As organizations increasingly rely on sophisticated platforms for their daily operations, the challenge of managing, locating, and analyzing data intensifies. The emergence of modern communication tools and complex data storage locations necessitates eDiscovery tools to be more agile, comprehensive, and integrated than ever before.

eDiscovery, at its heart, is about discovering the truth and ensuring justice in a digital world. As the digital realm continues to grow in complexity, tools and platforms must evolve in tandem.

That’s why we are excited to announce several new features and capabilities within Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) to address the challenges of today’s intricate digital landscape, ensuring that organizations remain transparent, compliant, and ahead of the curve.

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Many courts across the country have resumed in-person trial operations. Law firms now face new challenges when it comes to planning for out-of-town trials, as the return to in-person proceedings requires coordinating travel logistics such as airfare, hotel reservations and technological needs.

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5 Key Factors to Consider When Integrating AI into Your Legal Department

 Integrating advanced legal AI tools like LLMs catalyzes a significant shift for in-house legal teams. These models are evolving from mere tools to invaluable partners, extending in-house professionals’ capabilities. Adopting legal AI software is a strategic decision for in-house teams that can transform service delivery, enhance productivity, and provide data-driven insights.

Here’s a closer look at five key factors to think about when integrating AI:

  1. COST CONSIDERATIONS

Immediate Efficiency Gains: AI automation of repetitive tasks like contract reviews can yield direct time savings, reducing manual hours spent.

Optimize Spend: The cost savings allow for investments in training, advanced AI tools, and other high-value initiatives rather than repetitive manual work.

  1. WORKFLOW EVOLUTION

Reskilling: With AI excelling in routine tasks, in-house team members can take
on more complex responsibilities, upskilling into higher-value work.

Ongoing Learning: As AI evolves, so must in-house professionals’ skills. Regular AI training ensures everyone stays updated on the latest developments.

  1. DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS

Instant Analysis: AI for legal documents can provide real-time insights from data that previously required extensive manual analysis. This empowers faster, informed decisions.

Proactive Risk Monitoring: AI analysis of contracts and documents can proactively detect risks, allowing preventative mitigation.

  1. CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Addressing Hesitancy: Hosting regular workshops provides a venue for hesitant team members to gain familiarity with AI systems in a collaborative setting. This can ease adoption.

User Feedback: Encourage continuous user feedback on AI tools. On-the-ground insights allow refinements tailored to team needs.

  1. INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

Legal Tech AI Synergy with Blockchain: AI can help validate blockchain data beyond smart contracts, offering a more robust solution for secure transactions or records.

Collaborative Platforms: AI can seamlessly integrate with collaborative tools and platforms used by legal firms, ensuring a cohesive workflow. Whether it’s document collaboration or scheduling client meetings, AI can bring efficiency to these tasks.

Adaptive Systems: The beauty of modern AI is its adaptability. By connecting it with tools like CRMs or document management systems, it can learn and adapt based on historical data and user interactions.

Integrating AI is an ongoing journey requiring strategic planning, skills development, and a willingness to evolve. The payoff makes this effort invaluable for in-house productivity and insights. With thoughtful change management, AI transitions from an external tool to an intrinsic capability. Involvement and feedback from professionals is the key to ensuring the tech aligns with team needs. With meticulous implementation, AI becomes a seamless ally rather than a disruptive presence, propelling teams to new heights.

Want to learn more about how you can unlock the true potential of AI systems (including advanced prompting techniques)? Download our full eBook entitled The Legal Professional’s Handbook: Generative AI Fundamentals, Prompting, and Applications.


by Ryan Spear

Law firms are witnessing a resurgence in the popularity of partner and firm-wide retreats.

Table of contents

Click to read the full article on AttorneyAtWork.com.


With the growing use of AI in litigation and number of data storage locations, the process of ediscovery gets increasingly more complex and must be more agile, comprehensive, and integrated. The tools legal professionals need in today’s digital environment necessitate using advanced tools such as AI to locate the relevant data quickly and securing data in a way that complies with myriad regulations and major challenges.

To help you secure data and address your needs efficiently in the age of AI, we’re making it easier to safeguard and manage compliance of data using generative AI tools. Recent advanced capabilities of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery are aimed at giving you the advantage. If you’re attending the Legalweek conference in New York City from January 29 to February 1, 2024, we’d love to connect. Read on for an overview of what you can expect our experts to discuss, and keep scrolling for sessions and other ways to connect with us at Legalweek.


UPDATE

QuikData, the E-Discovery platform rising to the top for law firms and service providers searching for alternatives  

Houston, Texas, January 22, 2024 – QuikData is a software development and legal services company that has been rising through the ranks since the first release of the Quik E-Discovery and Data Room platform in 2017.  The industry veterans behind QuikData include the same development team that developed the “Viewpoint” E-Discovery platform, the on-premises E-Discovery platform that paralleled Relativity from 2007 to present. 

For the last six years, the same development and support team has focused their effort and talents in developing its powerful cloud-based platform, Quik. In speaking with the Vice President of Operations, Greg Anderson, the message is clear:

 “Our mission is to create a platform that offers advanced features while remaining user-friendly and easy to learn.  We concentrate our development efforts on providing intuitive, yet sophisticated, E-Discovery features and workflows. We recognize that a significant segment of the market is looking for an E-Discovery platform capable of handling complex tasks while reducing requirements for training, support overhead, and extensive change management efforts.” 

The most common first impression of the layout is that the user interface feels very familiar. Users immediately notice that they can easily drag and drop or right click and find a wealth of high-powered automation and analytics capabilities right away.

When evaluating a new E-Discovery platform, the primary considerations often revolve around its power and range of features.  Key questions include whether the software is light-weight or robust enough to handle complex cases involving large and varied data sets.  

QuikData addresses those concerns by prioritizing the needs of its E-Discovery users.   The Quik platform offers essential features tailored for litigation professionals, facilitating their engagement with complex data sets and extensive document collections.  QuikData’s intuitive interface simplifies the E-Discovery process for litigation service providers, attorneys, and support staff, enabling them to navigate the complexities of E-Discovery with ease.  This user-focused approach boosts legal team productivity and reduces the learning curve, allowing users to concentrate on winning legal cases, rather than struggling with software intricacies.

QuikData streamlines the e-discovery process with its drag-and-drop functionality, powerful templates, and customizable interface, allowing users to initiate projects swiftly and in their preferred manner. This efficiency eliminates the prolonged wait times previously experienced while preparing data for review. Moreover, QuikData provides many advanced features that enable users to access crucial information quickly and effortlessly.

Sophisticated Features

QuikData’s effectiveness stems from its combination of simplicity, affordability, and a rich array of features specifically designed for legal teams and technologists.  A key component is its integration of predictive coding, a potent E-Discovery tool that significantly improves the accuracy and speed of document review for litigation service providers.  Additionally, QuikData offers advanced email threading and communication analysis tools, including the ability to handle short message formats. These features provide a thorough understanding of communication patterns, an essential aspect in many legal cases.

QuikData distinguishes itself with its concept clustering feature, which facilitates a nuanced comprehension of how documents are interrelated. This feature is particularly valuable in scenarios where identifying connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information is crucial. 

The platform’s dedication to technological advancement is clear in its ongoing evolution, guaranteeing that litigation service providers and legal professionals always have access to cutting-edge tools to efficiently manage and understand the complexities of electronic data.

Come meet the QuikData team and see Quikdata for yourself at booth 3116 on the Americas 2 Level. 


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