Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast

Nothing is stopping your legal team from functioning like a high-performing business unit - except a lack of understanding and clarity on the real potential of AI. In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Kelly McCord, Founder and Principal Consultant at SimpliPhi Management LLC and former head of legal operations at HSBC, to explore how to leverage AI and automation to transform legal workflows.

What You'll Learn:

How to cross-train multiple LLMs simultaneously to compound results

Why legal ops professionals need baseline AI literacy, not deep technical expertise

The practical framework for embedding legal earlier in business decisions

How to build AI agents with guardrails that automate routine work while preserving human control

The skill-building path to AI competency in legal operations

How to reduce contract negotiation cycles from weeks to hours using agent-to-agent negotiations

About the Guest:

Kelly McCord is the Founder and Principal Consultant at SimpliPhi Management LLC, a legal operations consulting firm. With over 20 years of experience spanning engineering, business process consulting, financial services, and legal operations (including her role as Head of Legal Operations at HSBC), Kelly has become a pioneering voice in legal technology and AI implementation. Her work helping corporate legal teams integrate cutting-edge AI tools while maintaining quality human oversight makes her a leading voice for legal operations professionals seeking to modernize their functions and demonstrate clear value to the broader organization.

Episode Resources

Kelly McCord on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-m-mccord/

SimpliPhi Website: https://simpliphillc.com/

Workday Contract Management: https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/contract-management/overview.html

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/halmarcus/

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/memmeonwudiwe/

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.

What if we’re chasing the wrong problem? As it turns out, it’s not so much about getting agents ready – it’s about getting ourselves ready to benefit from them. In this episode of Meeting of the Minds – The Legal AI Podcast, Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Alex Herrity, Legal Operations Leader at adidas, to explore the strategies and frameworks that unlock transformation and capability for legal teams in the long run.
What You'll Learn:How to articulate what you actually want an AI agent to do before building or buying one

Why simplifying processes before automating them is non-negotiable

The difference between what legal leaders think happens vs. what actually happens operationally

How to use AI as an intelligence tool to audit your own legal operations

Why CLMs aren't going away and how they’re evolving

How to shift from replacing lawyers to leveling up their work

About the GuestAlex Herrity is a Legal Operations Leader at adidas with a unique background spanning both in-house counsel and legal technology innovation. Transitioning from commercial law into legal ops around 2017, he has become a thought leader on preparing legal departments for AI adoption. Co-hosting the podcast “Law://WhatsNext” alongside Tom Rice, Alex brings practical, grounded perspectives on legal technology implementation.

Episode ResourcesAlex Herrity on LinkedIn: Alex Herrity

Workday Contract Management: Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

How can legal leaders transition from the "Department of No" to the "Department of Growth"? In this milestone episode of Meeting of the Minds – The Legal AI Podcast, Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Workday’s Chief Legal Officer, Rich Sauer, to reflect on a year of explosive AI growth and project the trends for 2026. From his 20-year tenure at Microsoft to leading legal at Workday, Rich provides a masterclass on balancing innovation with responsibility.

What You'll Learn:The Three Pillars of Modern Legal: How Workday organizes its legal team around driving growth, protecting the brand, and earning stakeholder trust.

Agentic AI & The "Front Door": Why AI agents are becoming the new interface for legal departments to manage high-volume routine inquiries.

The End of the Contract Silo: How moving contract data into systems like Salesforce transforms "file cabinet" documents into active business drivers.

Navigating the Regulatory Patchwork: Why the EU AI Act, NIST Framework, and ISO 42001 are valuable guideposts for global AI adoption.

AI and the Human-in-the-Loop: Why soft skills like trust, empathy, and persuasive communication are more valuable now than ever before.

The Legal Business Model Tipping Point: Rich's take on the future of the billable hour and how AI is transforming the dynamic between in-house teams and outside counsel.

About the GuestRich Sauer is the Chief Legal Officer & Head of Corporate Affairs at Workday. With a career spanning twenty years at Microsoft and previous experience at Sullivan & Cromwell, Rich is a leading voice on the intersection of technology, global policy, and corporate governance. At Workday, he oversees the responsible AI team and is a primary advocate for risk-based frameworks that unlock business innovation while protecting stakeholder trust.

Episode ResourcesRich Sauer on LinkedIn: Rich Sauer

Workday Official Website: Workday.com

Workday AI & Innovation: Workday AI

Evisort (Part of Workday): Evisort Website

Regulatory Frameworks Mentioned:

EU AI Act: Official Information

NIST AI Risk Management Framework: NIST.gov

ISO/IEC 42001 (AI Management System): ISO Standards

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

How can AI shape AND be shaped by the law? In this episode of Meeting of the Minds – The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe welcome Kimberley Odums, Senior Counsel of Intellectual Property and AI at IEEE and founder of Lawyers Learn AI, to explore the intersection of legal innovation and artificial intelligence through a futuristic lens.
What You'll Learn:How to position yourself as a Legal AI expert on your team by staying informed on critical AI developments

Why the New York Times v. OpenAI case matters beyond just the case of publishing

Why the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement is an important precedent

How to build confidence in AI tools through closed-environment systems leveraging Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Why pro se litigants are winning cases using AI platforms for $20/month and the impact of this on access to justice

The critical distinction between human authorship and AI generation in copyright law

About the GuestKimberley Odums is Senior Counsel of Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and founder of the newsletter community Lawyers Learn AI. With a background spanning big law, nonprofit work and solo practice in trademark and brand protection, Kimberley has become a leading voice in the intersection of legal policy and AI development. Her work bridging the legal and tech communities makes her a leading voice in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI regulation and implementation.
Episode ResourcesKimberley Odums on LinkedIn

IEEE Website

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn

Evisort Website

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Are we going to see a new CXO in the boardroom - the Chief Contracting Officer? In this episode of Meeting of the Minds – The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Mark Ross, Principal at Deloitte Legal Business Services, to explore the evolution of legal technology, from early e-discovery to agentic AI.
What You'll Learn:How the evolution of eDiscovery created a blueprint for legal technology adoption and transformation

Why generative and agentic AI represent a paradigm shift in legal services

The three-bucket framework for measuring ROI in legal tech implementation

How to successfully implement Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) by starting with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach

Why contract visibility should precede workflow automation for optimal results

Why to expect the emergence of a Chief Contracting Officer role and why multidisciplinary skills will define the future legal department

Why legal teams must balance risk management with business enablement to remain strategically relevant

Why traditional legal business models remain resilient even in the face of technological disruption

About the GuestMark Ross is Principal and Market Leader at Deloitte Legal Business Services, where he spearheads innovative approaches to legal department transformation. With over two decades of experience spanning from practicing law in the UK to pioneering legal outsourcing operations, Ross has been at the forefront of legal industry evolution. As a self-described "recovering attorney," he has played a pivotal role in shaping how global organizations leverage technology and alternative delivery models to optimize legal operations. His perspective on the intersection of legal operations, technology, and business strategy has helped legal professionals and business leaders navigate the rapidly evolving legal technology landscape.

Episode ResourcesMark Ross on LinkedIn

Deloitte Website

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn

Evisort Website

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so