Pioneers and Pathfinders

Today, we're joined by Kevin Walker, founder and CEO of Centari, a deal intelligence platform that combines secure LLMs with trusted legal precedent to accelerate transactions. Kevin started as an M&A attorney at Paul Hastings before moving in-house to lead teams in real estate and private equity. Drawing on his experience representing businesses, he took the entrepreneurial leap to found Centari, where he has built products that he and his peers always wished they had as dealmakers. In our discussion, Kevin speaks with us about his passion for dealmaking and why he decided to transition to business. We also talk about how he and his team at Centari are making use of deal intelligence. Additionally, Kevin offers thoughtful advice for lawyers contemplating a career pivot into business or tech. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_KevinWalker.pdf

This week's guest, Dr. Roland Vogl, is a leading voice in legal education and the legal profession. He is the Executive Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology, and a lecturer in law at Stanford Law School. Dr. Vogl also co-founded and leads CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, where he drives cutting-edge research for the application of technology in the legal profession. In addition to his work at Stanford, Dr. Vogl serves as a visiting professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches US intellectual property law. He is also a co-founder and board member of Merico, Inc., a platform focused on software engineering metrics. Dr. Vogl plays an active role in the legal tech ecosystem, advising legal tech and legal generative AI companies. Since 2022, he has served on the executive committee of the International Association for AI and Law. In this episode, Dr. Vogl discusses his journey from legal practice to academia, offering insights into the unique culture at Stanford Law School that helped spark the creation of CodeX. We also explore how CodeX selects its projects and how it’s adapting to the transformative rise of generative AI. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Dr.RolandVogl.pdf

This week, we're speaking with Anastasia Boyko, a legal futurist and product evangelist at Filevine, a legal work platform for law firms and businesses. Anastasia has had a diverse career path, from practicing tax law to transformational and change management roles to legal education. She has created and led innovative programs at Yale Law School and the University of Utah SJ Quinney College of Law, where she has applied her knowledge of legal practice and business. Today, at Filevine, she collaborates with her team on creating and incubating new products in legal tech. In our conversation, Anastasia tells us about her journey to the legal field and why she ultimately decided to finish law school. We also discuss the need for empathy and kindness when training new lawyers, her exciting role as a legal futurist, and why law students should develop a range of skills. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_%20AnastasiaBoyko.pdf

We're joined today by a true leader and team-builder in legal tech: Mark Smolik, Chief Legal Officer at DHL Supply Chain Americas. Mark has been at the forefront of innovation in the industry for decades, having previously served as Senior Corporate Counsel at the Sherwin-Williams Company, as well as General Counsel & Secretary, Head of Human Resources, and Ethics Officer at Safelite AutoGlass. Across these various roles, Mark has been relied on for executing legal, compliance, and business strategies that mitigate risk and drive value. In our discussion, Mark talks about the DHL Legal Innovation Summit in June, his approach to team-building and shaping culture, the important advice he received on delivering value, and his DHL team's approach to managing risk. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_MarkSmolik.pdf

We're back with part two of our conversation with Justin Ergler and Keith Maziarek, two sharp voices at the forefront of legal innovation and co-hosts of the Off the Clock podcast. In this second episode, we dig deeper into the forces driving legal transformation. We talk about what motivates real change in the industry, why managing change—not just demanding it—is key to moving the industry forward, and why culture is such a critical but often overlooked component of successful change management. Whether you're inside a law firm or on the client side, this is a candid, practical look at the challenges and opportunities of modern legal practice. Thanks for taking the time to listen in.  Read the full transcript of this episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_KeithMaziarek_JustinErlger_Pt.2.pdf