Empowering Lawyers Beyond Legal Roles: A Conversation with Neil Handwerker and Kimberly Fine

If you’re thinking about leaving the practice of law, where should you start?

By Olga V. Mack on April 28, 2025 6:15 pm

In a legal world often defined by rigid swim lanes and limited career trajectories, how do you carve a new path? On Season 10, Episode 9 of “Notes to My (Legal) Self,” I had the pleasure of talking with Neil Handwerker and Kimberly Fine, co-founders of ex judicata, about reimagining what you can do with a JD. Their platform is transforming how lawyers pivot to fulfilling careers beyond traditional legal roles

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UnitedLex, a tech-enabled legal and professional services company, is excited to announce that Savitha Masson, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Strategy & GTM, has been named to the 2025 vLex Fastcase 50 list. This annual award recognizes people who are transforming legal service delivery through innovation, vision, and leadership.

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ex judicata was designed to be the first total solution for lawyers and law students interested in leaving law for new careers. Here are the Top 10 things we have learned to date:

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UnitedLex, a tech-enabled legal and professional services company, is pleased to announce that three of its IP leaders have been recognized in the prestigious IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2025: Bineet Bhasin, Conor Sheehan, and Shahzeb Akhtar.

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It’s somewhat surprising that Corporate America is not actively seeking lawyers for nonlegal jobs.

What kind of career alternatives are available to lawyers and law students? Everything. Save those occupations requiring specific schooling and credentialing. For example: brain surgeon, CPA, licensed plumber.

Last year, ex judicata had the pleasure of interviewing Patty Roberts, the Dean of St. Mary’s Law School. For those unfamiliar, Dean Roberts is one of the most innovative legal educators in America. Her law school is at the forefront of making a legal education available to underrepresented communities. Though having a live curriculum, St. Mary’s was also the first law school in the nation to make available a fully remote JD program accredited by the ABA. Dean Roberts told ex judicata:

“The question is not what can you do with a law degree, it is what can’t you do with a law degree.”

And readers of this column will know that last month we quoted Kellye Testy, CEO of the American Association of Law Schools, who is broadcasting this message loud and clear.

“A JD is a degree in complex problem-solving. And if there is one thing every business needs more of, it is complex problem-solvers.”

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Legal teams need to know which contracts set unusual payment terms, which include unfavorable liability, and which expire in the next quarter. Traditional CLM tools make that harder than it should be, requiring weeks of training models before you get a single useful answer.

That delay has always been the hidden barrier in contract intelligence. Faster approvals and better storage help, but the real challenge is turning contract text into answers the business can use right away. IntelAgree’s recent Saige Assist enhancements — specifically, its new question attributes feature — solve this by letting you ask questions in plain English and receive instant, reasoned responses.

Want to know how long an agreement runs or whether it allows press releases? Type the question, and the system interprets the language across the entire document even when the answer isn’t spelled out word-for-word. When scale matters, bulk markup applies those same questions across multiple contracts simultaneously, delivering portfolio-wide insights in a fraction of the time.

The result is contract intelligence that adapts as quickly as your business does. Instead of being locked into what you trained months ago, you can extract new attributes, surface risks, and generate insights whenever priorities shift.

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Enter a world where questions are actually encouraged, and concepts like ‘teamwork’ are more than a curiosity.

By Neil Handwerker and Kimberly Fine on July 23, 2025 12:14 pm

When lawyers who have never worked in business transition to a nonlegal job, they may feel as if they have landed on another planet — in some good ways and some bad ways. Fortunately, the good far outweighs the bad.

In addition to placing job ads on the ex judicata job board, more and more companies are asking us to conduct individual searches. Typically, they are for more experienced lawyers — often a law firm partner — for a specific nonlegal job.

We recently placed a partner from an Am Law 10 firm with a Fortune 500 client in a non-practicing capacity. She noted two things right off the bat:

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Your legal team just spent three weeks negotiating a software contract. The vendor agreed to most of your terms, approvals flew through the system, and everyone celebrated closing the deal ahead of schedule. Six months later, a vague performance clause you overlooked is causing project delays and vendor disputes.

Most contract software treats symptoms, not the disease. You get faster approvals and better organization, but your contracts still contain the same traps that create problems later. Agentic AI represents the next evolution in contract intelligence — systems designed to understand why contract terms are problematic and how to fix them, rather than just flagging issues.

This emerging technology could explain why specific language creates risk and suggest alternatives from your company’s negotiation playbook that already worked in similar situations. If a counterparty pushes back, agentic AI may recommend different approaches based on how your team handled comparable terms before. The goal is building on institutional knowledge instead of starting from scratch every time.

The technology is also poised to update risk assessments dynamically as business conditions change. When companies acquire new businesses or face regulatory shifts, advanced agentic AI could automatically rescan contracts to identify clauses that no longer align with current risk frameworks, giving legal teams real-time insights into which agreements need attention.

IntelAgree has been building toward this vision for nearly a decade, developing AI infrastructure specifically designed to support these advanced capabilities. Our approach integrates the latest language models into a platform built from the ground up for contract intelligence, not retrofitted with AI as an afterthought.

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Running Legal Like a Business 2025: Why Legal Professionals Can’t Miss This Event

The legal operations world is buzzing about the upcoming Running Legal Like a Business conference, set for September 2-5, 2025, at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. With over 700 legal professionals expected to attend, RLLB has established itself as the premier gathering for transforming legal departments into strategic business drivers.

The conference offers exceptional educational value with 60+ curated sessions designed for every level of operational maturity. Attendees can expect sessions covering AI-driven operations, generative AI restrictions, efficiency maximization, and organizational design impact on strategic decisions. The sessions focus on actionable strategies that legal teams have successfully implemented to standardize workflows, strengthen vendor relationships, and track contract ROI.

Beyond the learning opportunities, RLLB provides unmatched networking with legal ops leaders, in-house counsel, contract managers, and technology providers all gathering under one roof. Legal professionals can form valuable relationships with peers who have navigated similar operational challenges and can offer tested solutions.

The conference also emphasizes comprehensive professional development through hands-on workshops, career coaching, and certification opportunities focused on leadership and change management. Plus, the Expo Hall will provide a risk-free environment to explore cutting-edge legal technology vendors, including AI-powered contract management platforms and automation solutions.

IntelAgree will be showcasing their AI-powered CLM platform at Booth 11, including live demos of Saige Assist and opportunities to see firsthand how their technology can automate contract redlining and simplify daily legal workflows. Whether you’re beginning your legal ops journey or operating at peak maturity, RLLB 2025 delivers the insights, connections, and practical strategies needed to run legal operations like a successful business.

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With the legal tech landscape constantly shifting, one truth remains constant: change is inevitable.

As law firms navigate the complexities of digital transformation, geo-political shifts, and evolving client expectations, the ability to adapt quickly has become both a competitive advantage and a necessity.

But how do successful firms manage this constant state of flux, whilst maintaining operational excellence?

The Fear Factor in Transformation

Change can be anxiety-inducing, particularly in an industry built on precedent and tradition. This anxiety primarily stems from the unknown. When legal professionals lack clarity about how changes will affect their workflows, productivity, and client service capabilities, resistance naturally follows.

What’s the antidote to this resistance you ask? Education…

Education: The Foundation of Successful Change Management

For over 35 years, we at Intellek, have observed a clear pattern among law firms that successfully navigate technological and operational shifts: they prioritize comprehensive training programs that prepare their people for change before it happens. Taking a proactive approach to change, not reactive.

The most successful change initiatives in legal environments share a common first step: ensuring everyone understands not just what is changing, but why it matters and how it will benefit them.

Simply put, you cannot lead change if you don’t know where you’re going.

The Measurable Impact of Learning Technology in Legal

The data tells a compelling story about how learning management systems are transforming legal education:

  • Firms implementing comprehensive learning platforms see an average 264% increase in learning material usage, indicating stronger engagement with training resources
  • Well-trained staff contribute significantly to firm-efficiency and profitability
  • Organizations prioritizing education experience substantial financial benefits, with $29,400 average savings in employee turnover costs

Building a Culture of Continuous Learning

Leading law firms are shifting away from the traditional view of training of classroom based activities, for three-hours during onboarding, toward establishing ecosystems of continuous learning. This approach recognizes that adaptation isn’t a destination but a journey.

Utilizing Intellek helps firms to address several critical challenges:

  1. New Hire Onboarding: Establishing consistent knowledge foundations for all staff
  2. Technology Capability: Ensuring proficiency within essential legal tech tools
  3. Continued Education: Supporting ongoing professional development
  4. Performance Measurement: Providing analytics to identify knowledge gaps
  5. Digital Adoption: Accelerating the implementation of new technologies

The Integrated Approach to Legal Learning

Intellek’s learning solutions go beyond conventional training methods by integrating multiple components:

  • Intellek LMS: Centralizing all learning activities with in-depth tracking & reporting
  • Intellek Learn: Providing access to over 1,400 courses used by law firms
  • Intellek Create: Enabling the development of tech-specific training
  • Intellek deliver: Delivering guidance within workflows and applications

This comprehensive approach creates a learning environment specifically designed to make change management more accessible and effective.

Education Within Workflow

Perhaps the most significant evolution in legal training is the shift toward delivering education within existing workflows. Rather than requiring professionals to step away from their work to learn, Intellek integrate learning moments directly into daily tasks.

This contextual learning approach dramatically reduces disruption while increasing retention and application of new knowledge.

Looking Forward

As the legal sector continues to evolve, the firms that thrive will be those that embrace a proactive approach to change, supported by robust training frameworks that prepare their people for what’s next.

The question is no longer whether your firm will face significant change, but rather: How prepared will your people be when it arrives?

What strategies has your firm implemented to support continuous learning and change management? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Daryl is Head of Business Development & Innovation at Intellek, helping legal organizations navigate technological change through comprehensive learning solutions. Intellek has been supporting the legal sector for 35 years, globally.

Originally published: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-change-how-training-powers-transformation-daryl-fitzpatrick-a0l3e/

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