Fringe Legal

Jan Hards is the Director of Legal Innovation at Johnson Winter & Slattery. After years of practicing as a Corporate M&A Lawyer at Freshfields in the UK, and then later at Johnson Winter & Slattery, he made a deliberate move to become the firm’s Director of Legal Innovation. We discuss how Jan worked through that decision, what were some assumptions that he made, and some of the challenges. We also explore how Jan and the business look at the innovation function - through five objective criteria:Create efficiency at scaleFlexible workingCreate value from information the firm holdsGenerate revenueAddress riskWe also explore when and how Jan gets involved with client-facing projects (including pitches). Just a note, this episode originally aired as part of the Fringe Legal Virtual Summit in 2020, and much of what we discuss are still relevant today, but it’s important to have the time context. You can connect with Jan Hard via the JWS website or on LinkedIn.The full transcript is included below. If