Women of Legal Tech: Allison Shields Johs on Less ‘Technology for Technology’s Sake’ and More Results

Allison Shields Johs, President of Legal Ease Consulting. Courtesy photo

There is a shortage of women in science, technology, engineering, and math. But within the legal tech community, there are many women with thriving careers. Legaltech News presents our current “STEM Cell” profile, in which Sherry Kappel recently interviewed Allison Shields Johs, President of Legal Ease Consulting. This profile is a continuation of the Women of Legal Tech Series originally published by editor Monica Bay, “To inspire girls, women (and men).”

Between April and the end of June 2021, six 2015 winners will be listed on the “Women of Legal Tech” list of the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center. This was the list’s opening year, and there was a tremendous group of women now part of a six-year (and counting!) Tradition of honoring women in legal engineering. 2015 was also the year Monica Bay pulled out of ALM, so it seems appropriate that we pick up where she left off.

Legaltech News: What’s your name and what’s your name?

Allison C. Shields Johs, President of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. But mostly just Allison.

Often newcomers to the industry wonder how to get their work recognized. As far as you know, how did you become one of the first LTRC Women of Legal Tech in 2015?

The original list of Women of Legal Tech was created by Heidi Alexander, who posted a post on Law Technology Today blog to answer complaints that it is difficult to find women to write and speak about legal technology issues. Heidi and I knew each other from the American Bar Association’s legal department, and she knows I write and speak about lawyer management and legal technology, and that I co-authored a number of books for the legal department on legal technology, including LinkedIn in an hour for lawyers , Facebook In An Hour For Lawyers And How You Can Achieve More In Less Time – The Complete Guide to Increasing Your Productivity and Improving Your Business Results.

With that in mind, please reach out to a prospective LTRC woman at Legal Tech – someone who has currently been in the industry for less than ten years.

I would like to say greetings to an outstanding future woman in legal engineering, Alicia Aquino. Alicia has been involved in the Women of Legal Tech Summit for the past few years, where we present our Women of Legal Tech award winners every year.

Alicia is a San Diego based test technology consultant and she is truly a master of technology of all kinds, although her business is focused on test preparation, jury analysis, graphs, and test technology presentation. She is also a founding member of the Online Courtroom Project, an advisory task force that promotes the use of innovation and technology to uphold the constitutional right to trial in a crisis.

What was your “first place at the table”?

I can’t say I have any concrete idea of ​​what that would be first. Throughout my education, career and other endeavors, I have always tried to do the best possible job and contribute where I thought I could be a positive influence. That often meant I ended up in leadership positions, even if that wasn’t exactly what I intended from the start. Usually I just wanted to get things done.

Describe an experience in which you or someone you observed served as a role model on how to counter sexism in the workplace.

The sexism I’ve encountered in my career was more likely to come from people outside of the law firms I’ve worked for – lawyers and staff from other law firms, court staff, and some judges. As a young attorney who came to debris, it was often assumed that I was the court reporter and not one of the attorneys. Many judges or senior lawyers at the time simply weren’t as receptive or respectful of female lawyers. I tried to use these assumptions to my advantage by being better prepared, knowing my cases back and forth, and being far more competent than expected. For me, the best way to counter sexism was to just be the most knowledgeable and prepared in the room.

What would you like people to talk about less and what would you like people to talk more about legal technology?

I wish people would talk less about technology for technology’s sake and more about the results technology can help us. I think there is too much emphasis on technology as it is just about hardware, software and devices. The definition of technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. With that in mind, I wish people would talk more about technology and focus the discussion more on how lawyers can use technology to create a better experience for clients. I wish people would talk more about using the data and knowledge lawyers and law firms have accumulated over time to improve the customer experience and improve the law for everyone – attorneys, clients, judges, court staff, legal Human resources, companies, individuals and society at large.

From your seat, what has been the most innovative change you’ve seen in the legal industry over the past year?

The simple answer would be to move away from reliance on physical office space or conduct hearings, meetings, signing court conferences, and all other types of legal work in a virtual environment. I’m not sure if I would call this innovative as it has essentially been imposed on the legal profession due to the pandemic. I think the most innovative change I’ve seen is the way the legal profession is scrutinizing across the board not only what it can do to address current legal practice, but also how it could look different in the EU Future. They are looking for and open to new ways of providing legal services that they have never considered before.

In your opinion, what has changed most for women in legal engineering in the last six years since you were included on the first LTRC list in 2015?

I see so many more women in legal engineering now than ever before. Women are taking technology leadership roles in their companies, innovating, creating legal technology startups, and helping their court systems implement technology to improve access to justice and courtroom efficiency. I see women develop their strengths in legal technology.

What does a day in your WFH / pandemic work life look like?

Before the pandemic, I worked from home and met with clients virtually or in their offices. So the biggest change for me was that I couldn’t attend bar associations, client briefings, and conferences in person. My day consists of virtual meetings with clients, some over the phone and some through Zoom or Microsoft Teams, a lot of writing – for clients, for my own marketing, my website and blog, and various publications, and part of my day is usually related with the creation, publication or promotion of videos. Since most of this work is sedentary, getting a workout and / or a walk every day is a priority for me – even if I have to do an indoor walking workout from YouTube.

If the legal industry wasn’t an option (imagine a world without lawyers!) And there were no limits to your options, what would your dream job be?

My dream job has changed over time, but it would always involve a lot of reading and / or writing. I could be a book editor or some other type of book author.

Who is someone famous (dead or alive) that you would like to meet? Why?

I would love to meet Queen Victoria – talk about a woman who had to overcome obstacles in order to be respected as a leader and achieve things in a male-dominated society!

What was the best advice you have ever received?

Be true to yourself and trust your gut.

If you had a week just to binge, what movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, or video games would you watch / listen / read / play?

I love reading and reading historical novels, so for this week I would ditch my usual reader and read up-to-date paper books instead.

If a book were written about your life, what would the title be?

Just go on.

What’s your favorite dessert?

Ice or ice. And mom’s pecan cake.

For the next quarter, we will focus on legal technology women in large law firms. What question would you like to ask them?

What are your tips for engaging with partners and other leading law firms to implement and move technology?

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