Since 2020, ILTA has annually honored five outstanding women leaders in the global legal technology community. Each March, during International Women's History Month, honorees are selected based on their history of mentorship and level of impact on Legal Technology.
This year, ILTA is pleased to share the list of the 2022 recipients:
-Ebru Metin, Founder and CEO, Legal Design Turkey
-Dorna Moini, Founder and CEO, Decussate
-Leah Molatseli, Head of Business Development, Legal Interact
-Joy Heath Rush, CEO, ILTA
-Naomi Thompson, Senior Vice President, Legal Solutions EMEA, Exigent Group Limited
Today, we are pleased to highlight our next 2022 Influential Woman: Naomi Thompson.
Naomi Thompson is the Senior Vice President | Legal Solutions EMEA for Exigent Group Limited. She is an Attorney and Business Executive who utilizes her business and legal experience to transform the business of law. Naomi is a published author and a renowned speaker, working at the intersection of business, law, and technology. After serving as an in-house legal counsel, she transitioned into a business executive role where she was the Chief of Staff for the Group COO of a Pan African Investment company. Naomi led multiple large strategic projects and supported the COO, by executing the company’s strategic objectives.
In her current role, Naomi focuses on legal innovation, advising both local and global organizations on legal department transformation initiatives. She advises clients on strategies to incorporate automation, artificial intelligence, and data analytics into their legal delivery to improve business performance. In short, Naomi assists her clients with implementing innovative approaches by incorporating technology into their legal delivery.
Naomi has an MBA from Hult International Business School (Boston) and an LLB from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She is one of the co-authors in “Next Stage Legal Project Management: Future-proof Your Matter Management” published by Globe Law and Business, 2020.
Earlier this year, we sat down with Naomi and asked her to dive a little deeper with ILTA. Here are some insights into the third of our five 2022 Influential Women in Technology:
Describe your role as if you are speaking with a child.
I am an attorney that uses my legal and business experience to help lawyers improve the way they deliver legal service to their business. I advise legal teams on ways to use technology to achieve better outcomes for the entire organization. We answer questions and help them solve problems to allow their teams to do their jobs easier. Each client engagement delivers a tailored solution that provides answers, supported by data to business challenges that reduces risk, improve compliance and drive process and cost efficiencies.
What accomplishment in the legal space are you most proud of?
The opportunity to drive change and make a meaningful impact in the legal industry and being part of a dynamic global legal team that has done amazing work in advancing legal innovation. I am incredibly proud of our team who was shortlisted in the AI Innovation category at the Legal Innovation Awards 2021 and highly commended for Best Use of Technology at the African Legal Awards 2021, for a solution I crafted and advised a client on to accelerate their contract digital transformation journey.
How do you make sure there are seats at the table for women in the industry?
I believe in leading by example and amplifying the voices of others to help them be heard and succeed. Through sponsorship and mentorship, I champion women in our organization and the larger legal ecosystem. Often there are not enough seats at the table, therefore, I believe in creating seats, generating opportunities, and encouraging women at all levels, from young professionals to executives, to be the masters of their own destinies. I invest time to build relationships and make meaningful connections, to create opportunities and open doors for other women. I utilize my position to bring women in the legal profession together to promote leadership and drive collaboration and support for each other. In my personal capacity, I use my story to motivate others to follow their dream and to fight for what they believe in to achieve their goals.
What is one challenge within legal technology you hope to help solve?
With lawyers being risk-averse and the general resistance of the legal profession to embracing digital transformation, the legal industry is lagging in the adoption of technology compared to that of other industries. I want to contribute to and effectively increase the adoption of legal technology, by advising and supporting legal teams in changing their perception of technology as an enabler to their legal function, and thereby further drive digital transformation in the industry. The opportunity to change the culture from one of risk-averse and resistant to change, to one of being open to experimenting and embracing changes, is now. It is such an exciting time to make a difference in how lawyers work and deliver services to their clients. This, however, involves a shift in focus to adopting and implementing meaningful, business-aligned process improvement, and embracing best-in-class technology, such as automation, artificial intelligence and data analytics.
If you could spend one hour with someone who you feel has had a significant impact on your success (directly or indirectly), who would you spend it with and what’s the one question you’d ask them?
I cannot attribute my success to one person, but rather, to several people at various stages in my life who have played an instrumental role in my success. My first encounter with a lawyer of colour at a very young age, was my first inspiration. This was followed by my late brother, who achieved success in life and his career without formal education. All the mentors throughout my career and my tribe of women are the people who remind me of my dreams and push me to go beyond the challenges when I feel like giving up.
However, if there is one person I would love to spend an hour with it will be Dr. Myles Munroe. I attended his conference when I was young. His words resonated with me: “the richest place on Earth is the grave, with so many unfulfilled dreams” and that “the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without a purpose.” His words inspired me to work towards my goals and becoming the first of seven siblings to obtain a degree. It inspired my dad to support my dreams to go to law school, despite our family’s lack of financial means. I would ask Dr. Munroe, what is one change I should make to help me get even closer to fully living my purpose?
Additionally, check out our ILTA video with Naomi, to learn more about her!
Join us, next week, as we learn more about our final 2022 Influential Woman in Legal Technology!
And, for more information on the 2022 recipients, and the ILTA Influential Women in Legal Technology awards, please click here.