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The Educational Institute for Buying Legal Services & Legal Technology Education | Insights | Best Practices


Using AI to Save Money on Legal Services NOW: A Realistic Approach to Using Big Data in Legal Procurement | Matt DenOuden (Onit), Jessica Williams (Hearst), and David Cambria (College of Law Practice Management)

  • 28 Jun 2023
  • 11:00 AM
  • Eastern Time | Members & Friends automatically receive calendar invite and login/dial-in for this webinar.
  • Effective and strategic sourcing of outside legal services still presents challenges for most organizations. The application of AI now enables a much more precise and cost-focused approach to comparing firm options. As a result, buyers of legal services can now have a more reliable understanding of accurate benchmarks on rates and staffing. 

    This webinar will share rate increases and other patterns from the pandemic period based on data harvested from over $47B+ in anonymized law firm billings. Questions that we will explore include the following:


  • What pattern of timekeeper rate increases emerged during the 2021 to 2022 “return to normal” period?
  • What relationship do AmLaw rankings have to recent rate increases, decreases, or flattening?
  • How can the use of AI enable a practical data-centric and benchmark-driven approach to procuring legal services?
  • Where is it most important to have a line of sight and influence over how matters are staffed and who is doing what work on the matter? What does data from 2021 to 2022 tell us about what occurred in staffing patterns in different matter types?

A Discussion With:

Matt DenOuden, Senior Vice President, Global Sales, Onit

Matt DenOuden has over 30 years of legal industry experience, including a dozen years practicing law as a partner in a boutique defense firm in Hartford, Connecticut. Throughout his career thus far, he has worked with over 200 members of the Fortune Global 500 and 400 members of the Forbes Global 2000. Matt has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Hartford and a J.D. from The University of Connecticut School of Law.

Jessica Williams, Senior Legal Operations Manager, Hearst

Jessica Williams’s legal operations journey began in Montana, building legal document templates nearly 20 years ago. Her career since has spanned the US, from small businesses and rural law firms to some of the world's largest private corporations. Today, Jessica applies her passion for data and automation to her role as the Senior Operations Manager for Hearst's Office of General Counsel, where she heads the Global Legal Service Provider Program. Through her work on the advisory board for Buying Legal Council, Jessica also developed the industry's first Legal Procurement Certification. She holds an MBA from Syracuse University, with concentrated studies in data analytics, and is certified in legal procurement, project management, and social media marketing.

David Cambria, Fellow, College of Law Practice Management

David Cambria has more than 20 years of experience in legal consulting and operations. He has spent his career driving innovation for law firms and corporate legal functions to improve strategic decision-making, client engagement, operational efficiency, and revenue growth. He was dubbed “the Godfather of legal operations” for his work leading the corporate legal departments of Aon, CDW, and Archer Daniels Midland. He most recently held senior executive leadership roles at Baker McKenzie and PwC where he successfully bridged the gap between the law function and business growth. He has been responsible for developing and designing new operational structures, service lines, processes, and programs to accelerate client success. David has a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law.