Blank Rome Debuts C-Suite Role for Innovation, Client Value
Linda Novosel, the firm's newly appointed chief innovation and value officer, says the legal industry "has been the last to innovate."
September 06, 2018 at 05:36 PM
4 minute read
Tackling a mix of evolving issues in law firm leadership and strategy, Blank Rome has created a new C-suite position and hired a professional who trail-blazed a similar role at another large firm.
The firm has hired Linda Novosel as its first chief innovation and value officer, based in Philadelphia. Novosel comes from Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she had been the chief client value officer.
Her role was a new one there as well, though her history at Steptoe went back several years. Novosel had been Steptoe's chief pricing and legal project management officer, but her job title changed in January of this year to better reflect how she was interacting with the firm and its clients, she said in an April interview about client value roles.
Novosel earned a J.D. at Widener University School of Law, but she has spent much of her career in business-focused roles at law firms.
In her new position, in addition to handling pricing and legal project management, she is tasked with finding new ways to serve clients, support the firm's practice groups and practice law more efficiently. She is starting with a pricing team and developing legal project management capabilities.
“In many firms it's difficult to get the delivery of services aligned with the value,” Novosel said. “The idea of marrying the innovation with value is very exciting to me. It's not just about pricing.”
And innovation is not just about technology, she also noted, though she will likely be collaborating with the firm's chief information officer, as well as the chief human resources officer and chief marketing officer and their teams.
Blank Rome chairman Alan Hoffman and Novosel said they got connected through Keith Lipman, co-founder of Prosperoware, who speaks frequently on the topic of law firm operations. He and Hoffman were on a panel together when Hoffman mentioned that his firm was looking to fill a new role, and Lipman suggested Novosel.
“We were looking to develop innovative, efficient ways of delivering services to our clients, do things that would distinguish us from the competition and bring value to our clients,” Hoffman said. “Our clients have demanded and are entitled to these kinds of innovative ways of delivering the legal service we deliver and pricing it efficiently.”
Novosel said she's not sure yet how much of her role will be client-facing. “My first mandate is to get the buy-in from the partners on the idea of innovation,” she said. But so far that has not been a challenge, she noted, and most are excited about her new role.
The legal industry has seriously lagged behind when it comes to innovation, she said. ”The accounting firms are doing quite well in this space,” having already become accustomed to offering alternative fee arrangements, she said. ”The legal industry has been the last to innovate.”
In a statement Thursday, a spokeswoman for Steptoe said the firm will be seeking a new chief client value officer, and said Novosel was a valued member of the firm.
“During the three years she was with us, we put in place improved processes for approving engagements, for constructing budgets, and for developing alternative fee arrangements. While we plan to find a successor to Linda, we have built a strong client value team that will continue to enhance our pricing initiatives,” the firm said.
Hoffman said Blank Rome is in the process of developing a new strategic plan, and the value and innovation role will be “integrally involved” in that.
“Our mantra is remain relevant to your clients. This is a continuing step in terms of remaining relevant to your clients,” he said.
Novosel agreed, noting increased sophistication in client legal departments. “Law firms have to respond,” she said, and the increased prevalence of pricing roles is only the beginning.
“It's evolving. It's going from the pricing to the value to the innovation, and it's a continuum. Once you get to innovation it's a continual, 'What can we do to improve?'”
READ MORE:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllNewly Formed DEI Practices Expect Heightened Demand During Trump Administration
Morgan Lewis Snatches Up Former Orrick Partner in Boston
Trending Stories
- 1Decisions Have 'Real-Life Consequences': Juvenile Court Judge Considered for Appellate Bench
- 2NY District Attorneys Ask for Level Funding Amid Statewide Drop in Violent Crime
- 3Texas Trial Boutique Matches Milbank Bonuses, Paying up to $140K
- 4'Final Countdown': SEC Launches Nearly 800% Litigation Surge in October
- 5On the Employment Front, What Changes Are Likely Under Trump?
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250