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Buddy Badge Initiative
Connecting Leading Experts
Why did we act?
Something is wrong: rarely have so many people taken an interest in all matters digital, but finding the right candidate for a digital role is one big challenge.
What do we propose?
The Buddy Badge Initiative connects leading agents of LegalTech to provide job crafting insights for anyone looking to join the field.
How do we do it?
We help people meet by suggesting to candidates questions they should answer and decisions they should take, both before setting out and while crafting their roles. Candidates can compare their own answers to what successfully established agents of digital transformation in highly specialized domains have to say on the respective matter – and get in touch with them for further insights.
What does this give to the community?
Well-informed and connected, today´s candidates will make for a (much) greater community tomorrow. In return, buddies get to call themselves „Liquid Legal Buddy”, e.g. on LinkedIn (hence the name…).
© Image by Sarah OUIS
We help people meet by suggesting to candidates questions they should answer and decisions they should take, both before setting out and while crafting their roles. Candidates can compare their own answers to what successfully established agents of digital transformation in highly specialized domains have to say on the respective matter – and get in touch with them for further insights.
Meet the buddies
In-house
The digital transformation of inhouse legal departments is in full swing. LegalTech and legal operations roles / teams enjoy particularly strong growth rates. The threshold for the creation of at least one such full-time position seems to be around 20-25 full-time equivalent positions. Exceptions confirm the rule, of course, since there are both larger departments w/o any such person and many smaller ones with a (much) higher share of digital roles.
Nina drives digitalization and innovation in an inhouse legal department. Throughout her professional development she explored new areas such as Compliance Programs or Legal Operations and is inspired by creating user centric solutions. An open mind and out of the box thinking is essential for supporting innovation in the legal department. But equally important is to closely align with the relevant internal stakeholders and to introduce the change carefully, sometimes even stepwise. Her advice to legal professionals is to go beyond the traditional roles and to combine legal knowledge with process design and change capabilities.
Daniel got his role by chance - what started as a student job has become a passion. He loves about his job that it’s one of the few fields with real creative freedom. It is up to his team to reimagine how the legal associates are providing legal services and help to improve the experience of all stakeholders. There are often stakeholders who inherently will buy-in to changes you are trying to make, as well as stakeholders who will not. Knowing how to manage both is key.
Carolin leads a team that develops an adaptable, modular solution for legal department services. To excel in this role, it is crucial to have the ability to quickly grasp and understand different areas of law, have a basic understanding of technology, and be able to communicate this knowledge in an understandable way. Her advice is not to get too caught up in theoretical methods, instead remain curious, open to new ideas and don't be afraid to go your own way. Try to gain as much and as varied practical experience as possible in your field of interest, and this will lead you to a job that really fulfils you.
With his tech background, Bernhard drives digitalization in the legal sector. He loves interdisciplinary work and firmly believes that collaboration is the key to success in a digital future. In his opinion, the business of law can benefit from the advancements of digitalization, which requires not only technology, but also processes, skills, and - most of all - a digital-first mindset.
Chris Williams, a creative problem-solver with a background in finance and immigration, is dedicated to transforming the legal sector through innovation. As Head of Community at Betty Blocks, he fosters a thriving community, promoting collaboration and empowering individuals and organisations to make a lasting impact in the legal sector.
Pascal develops digital competencies and agile approaches within the legal department. He is an advocate for creating spaces for exploration and innovation. With a background in technology and innovation, he plays a key role in shaping the digital roadmap, scouting the most promising legal tech projects, aligning them with strategic goals and getting them on the right track at an early stage.
Consulting
The consulting sector may well be most affected by the digital transformation since it offers clients a way to access specialist knowledge w/o passing through a human advisor. While trusted human interfaces should certainly be required in the future, it is not yet clear how exactly this will play out in a change journey that seems unstoppable.
Astrid Kohlmeier is a lawyer and internationally recognised legal design pioneer who runs a legal design consultancy. Co-author of ‘the legal design book’, Astrid advises legal departments and law firms on developing user-centric legal solutions with a focus on innovation and digital transformation. Astrid is a member and lecturer of the Executive Faculty at the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession, co-founder of the non-profit Liquid Legal Institute e.V., a speaker at relevant conferences worldwide and collaborates with a global network of legal designers.
Matthias builds solutions made from tech components and classic consulting. He loves how people come together around a result that actually solves a problem. The challenge is to listen and carve out the real issue they have been having all along. His advice to job crafters is to never stop trying.
Sten is a seasoned advisor who loves spotting new pathways in the digital transformation wilderness. He enables the team and cooperation partners to contribute their own ideas and strengths, ensuring the end result fits the big picture. He wishes he had let go of project roadmaps much earlier, focusing instead on agile methodologies and moving targets.
Bernhard simply calls him "the swiss army knife of legal transformation".
Containing lawyers’ experience in (digital) products will change the legal profession. Thus getting away from selling our lifetime by the hour. That is Rainer’s vision.
He supports his partners to create client facing solutions that add value and give clients easy access to law.
Working in diverse teams, collaborating without hierarchy, and focusing on results is key to successful innovation.
Reinvent yourself!
Johannes has dedicated his career to driving digital transformation in the legal sector. Combining legal expertise with programming and software development skills, he is experienced in building companies and developing products from prototype to market leader. Johannes loves interdisciplinary work and talking about legal applications.
Lena is leading the Innovation department of Norton Rose Fulbright in Germany as an Innovation Manager. She is part of the EMEA Innovation, Design & Technology team. Lena is a former Litigation Lawyer and now advises clients and Partners on how work is delivered better using technology tools and how to find ways to increase profitability, reduce waste and reimagine the client experience. For Lena driving Innovation is team work. She enjoys being part of a highly motivated and creative multidisciplinary team who is keen to shape the future of legal services.
Katharina Bisset
Katharina is Tech Attorney + LegalTech StartUp Founder + Nerd + Multipotentialite
Tech and law were always at the core of her professional life, but she always questioned what’s the „right“ way to do this job. In the end, Katharina's weirdness became her USP.
She wishes that she had met other innovative small firm owners sooner and questioned the status quo of how and what a lawyer must be earlier.
The challenges for young lawyers nowadays are finding your fit, what motivates you and gives you energy and the job that ideally fulfils it all.
In my role, I am integrating Legal Design and Design Thinking into the legal sector. This innovative approach emphasizes the importance of making legal information more accessible, understandable, and user-friendly.
I am a creative, stubborn, free thinker playing around with contracts and legal innovation.
I strongly believe in the power of the community, and I have one clear mission: deliver legal innovation with contracts where clarity, relationships and accessibility are core values.My simple advice to anyone is: live according to your nature and make generosity part of your growing strategy.
Chris Vaagt assists law firms, patent lawyers and legal departments when major change is needed.
Based on a REAL TIME Change methodology, bullet proof tested since 25 years working with critical lawyers, this process helps jurists to adapt to whatever role, job, process or strategy which is needed in the circumstances.
Manuela uses legaltech in her everyday work as a lawyer and is fascinated with the rapid digitalization and transformation of the legal landscape. She loves solving problems in a multidisciplinary team using everyone’s unique know- how and out-of-the-box thinking. Her advice to job crafters is to stay curious and open minded.
Laura loves contracts, processes and tools and the possibilities they gave us to be, as an Inhouse legal department, a value drive and not only a cost driver.
Through many years of experience in legal departments and contract management departments, she is convinced that the success of an Inhouse legal department is the balance between the strict compliance with laws and regulations and the suitable integration of the legal department in the company based on the factors: business & risks assessment, processes, stakeholder management and the human centered focus as the heart of each company and its projects.
There is always a solution!
Kilian, a natural innovator fueled by curiosity, excels in merging technology with the legal world through practical solutions. With a unique background as an entrepreneur, lawyer, and now a legal tech manager, he navigates tech development and legal operations with pleasure. His journey across these diverse fields has crafted him into a versatile generalist committed to driving progress in legal tech.
General
Off the trodden paths: the digital transformation is interesting because it allows for so much flexibility and creativity. There is a wealth of new positions completely out of traditional boxes and career tracks. The sky is the limit if you have passion and are good at what you do!
Sarah Ouis is an experienced legal design consultant and visual legal design coach. Driven by a strong desire to problem solve creatively in the legal industry, she takes pride in assisting legal teams and legal service providers transform their delivery of legal services with legal design. She also works in legal technology as a commercial director more particularly focused on contracts lifecycle management, leveraging her former in-house legal background.
Daniella believes in exchange and that the most efficient way to learn from each other is to do it in an interdisciplinary manner across multiple industries. She wishes she had recognized earlier how important it is to actively listen and ask as many questions as possible. The 5 W questions from the basic course are more important than ever in times of digital transformation and cannot be asked often enough. It's best to just never stop asking "why".
Lara Ludwig is a founder and an experienced consultant who excels at navigating the dynamic intersection between business and technology, especially in agile work settings. Her expertise lies in formulating effective digital product strategies and defining robust validation approaches for organizations. Lara strongly believes in harnessing the power of interdisciplinary teams, acknowledging the valuable contributions that diverse perspectives and skill sets bring to the table.
Heike, with 15+ years in digital transformation across the automotive, finance, and legal sectors, excels in building innovative business models and services. As a no-code expert and innovation methodology specialist, she thrives on crafting out-of-the-box strategies to overcome challenges inherent in an organization's digital transformation. A female legal tech founder and former digital agency founder, Heike introduces a fresh perspective to the legal industry. Her expertise is rooted in merging industry knowledge with the audacity to disrupt conventional methods, with an aim to revolutionize traditional practices through modern, user-centric solutions.
A law student works as a legal engineer to revolutionize the legal industry using technology. They advise embracing interdisciplinary knowledge and investing in diverse skills to contribute to industry advancement.
Interested in Alternative Legal Service Providers? Then Luis is the right contact for you!
Through his passion for legal tech, Luis found his interest in alternative legal services.
With a large pool of interim lawyers, he helps legal departments to overcome bottlenecks in their capacity.