⚙️ From AI to Analytics: Legal Operations Takes the Lead at PLI Legal Ops Institute 2025
PLI’s Legal Operations Institute 2025 drew a record-breaking 1,200+ registrants. I attribute this to discipline in taking a legal operations lens of practical advice you can take back and apply to your job immediately. When brainstorming the agenda with Meredith Gordon and Jesse Sands, we strove to identify topics that were top of mind for everyone, whether you're at a law firm, in-house, or in another role. And we tried to bring content that will speak to folks regardless of where you are in your legal ops journey, whether you're just starting out, you've been doing it for a while, or you're fairly senior and are prospecting for new perspectives.
Did we succeed? We’ll look forward to the compiled sessions surveys.
🧭 The Big Takeaway
As we have often reflected in this forum, legal operations plays a critical role in transforming how legal departments and businesses are functioning, and in the present environment of unprecedented technology growth and speed, is an important anchor to legal departments’, and their companies’ , success.
Judgment—not just technology—remains the North star in legal ops.
💡 Panel 1: Real-Life Use Cases for Generative AI in Everyday Practice
AI adoption is shifting from curiosity to capability. You do not need to be a coder to experiment. Leaders shared everyday challenges at both the department level and for their own work, showing how these tools can save time, reduce friction, and unlock new ways of working.
“If you don’t have the resources to enhance and maintain what you build, then buy.” — Ashley Miller, CapGemini
“Take the general tools in your arsenal and ground them for legal.” — Penny Williams, Google
“Product management isn’t optional—it’s essential.” — Megan McMillin, Cleary Gottlieb
“Before buying new tech, ask—what do we already have that can solve this problem today?” — Jessica Williams, Geico
Their consensus: AI success isn’t about the tool—it’s about design, governance, and stewardship.
From Copilot summaries to internal GPTs translating legalese, these professionals showed AI’s growing role in augmenting, not replacing, legal judgment.
⚖️ Panel 2: To GenAI or Not to GenAI — Choosing the Right Tool
The second panel explored when not to use AI. Leaders shared how discernment has become the new superpower.
“We wrote the business case for an AI FAQ bot using ChatGPT itself.” — Stacy Lettie, Organon
“Sometimes the smart move isn’t smarter tech—it’s smarter process.” — Jamal Brown, JP Morgan Chase
“We could implement in a week—proof that not every problem needs GenAI to be transformative.” — Mike Ferdinand, Clifford Chance
The message: Innovation starts with governance, data hygiene, and business alignment—not the shiniest model.
📊 Panel 3: Turning Legal Data into Business Insight
In a session on metrics and measurement, panelists tackled how to make legal data tell a story of value.
“You can’t pull the wool over the eyes of people who analyze companies for a living.” — Alma Rosa Montañez, S&P Global
“We learned to strip out the noise while keeping accuracy high.” — Melissa Muscat, Mayer Brown
“Start with what’s countable—work product, cost savings—and build from there.” — Tayo Kinnane, Con Edison
“Data is not static. The most effective legal teams revisit it regularly.” — Yesenia Santiago Egner, Paragon
Their collective advice: Define your ‘why,’ simplify what you track, and connect insights to business goals. Metrics aren’t just numbers—they’re the narrative of legal’s impact.
To view the PLI Legal Operations Institute 2025 recording, visit: https://www.pli.edu/programs/legal-operations/416133 (requires paid registration if your team does not have a subscription).
In my next few posts, I’ll focus in on each panel.