Evolving KM Episode 8: Practical KM and Gender Bias

Welcome to Evolving KM, a podcast where we discuss how Knowledge Management is progressing and the impact that’s having on KM professionals. In each episode, we interview people who have either worked in or on the periphery of Knowledge Management and get their perspectives on how this profession is evolving to meet the shifting demands of legal service delivery.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

In this episode, we speak with our guest Kathleen Hogan, Director of Education and Knowledge Integration at McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto. Kathleen brings years of experience in the legal industry, from research lawyer to in-house and law firm KM and professional development. We discuss Kathleen’s article in the recently published KM White Paper, Practical Tips on Staying Practical in an Innovative Culture, including her thoughts on soft launches, agile teams, and working with attorneys. We then address Kathleen’s provocative article, Women in Legal Tech, published earlier this Fall on Slaw, Canada’s online legal magazine. Kathleen tells the story of an unfortunate, but unfortunately common, experience she had as a woman in legal technology. We discuss strategies for combatting gender bias, and Kathleen shares her advice for women aspiring to advance. Listen to this episode for ideas you can put into practice today!

Hosts: Gwyn McAlpine oversees the knowledge management program at Perkins Coie LLP, an international law firm with 1,000 lawyers in 19 offices. Gwyn's focus is on creating value for clients by enabling attorneys to practice law more efficiently and collaboratively. In addition to more traditional KM initiatives, KM at Perkins Coie includes library and research services, internal and external collaboration, and AI and expert systems. Gwyn practiced corporate law for 10 years before fully transitioning to knowledge management.

Amy Monaghan is the Practice Innovations Manager within the knowledge management group at Perkins Coie LLP. She works side-by-side with practice groups to further KM initiatives, particularly those involving artificial intelligence systems and other advanced technologies, such as document assembly, logic systems, workflow tools and contract analysis tools. Previously, Amy was in a similar role at Chapman and Cutler LLP.