Blogs

Please enjoy this blog authored by Raquel Lewis, Technical Program Manager, Intapp.

Leadership development doesn't require a title. It doesn't require a promotion, a direct report, or a seat at the executive table. For many legal technology professionals, some of the most meaningful leadership growth happens outside the office, through professional associations, nonprofit boards, volunteer committees, employee resource groups, and industry organizations.

I know this firsthand. Over the course of my career, I've served on the LMA Southwest board, rising to president. I've spoken at ILTA conferences as a CRM subject matter expert. I've co-chaired an employee resource group at my company. I've served on the LMA Education Advisory Council, co-chaired the LMA Marketing Technology SIG, and volunteered for ILTA's Content Coordination Teams, among others. Each of those experiences shaped how I lead, how I think about my career, and how I show up at work.

What I've noticed looking back is that my reasons for saying yes evolved significantly over time. Early on, I took on outside roles largely because I was asked, and because I recognized they would help me build visibility and credibility in a field I was still finding my footing in. There's nothing wrong with that. Career development is a legitimate motivator, and being strategic about how you invest your time outside of work is smart, not cynical. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. The roles I sought out later weren't ones I took because they would look good or get my name out there. They were roles I genuinely wanted… work I loved, in an industry I cared about, alongside people who shared my interests. The visibility and networking became a byproduct of doing work that mattered to me, rather than the goal itself.

That shift is worth paying attention to, because it changes everything about how you show up.

Where Leadership Opportunities Exist Outside of Work

For legal technology professionals, the landscape of outside leadership opportunities is broader than it might initially seem. Professional associations like ILTA and LMA are obvious starting points, but the range extends to nonprofit boards, civic leadership programs, employee resource groups, mentorship networks, and community organizations of all kinds.

My own entry point came through a relationship. A colleague and friend asked if I'd be interested in joining the LMA Southwest board. I said yes, partly because I trusted her judgment, and partly because I thought it would be good for my career. I was appointed treasurer, and a couple years later, became president. That single conversation, that one relationship, opened a door I didn't even know to knock on.

Relationships have been the connective tissue across nearly every outside leadership role I've taken on since. I was asked to speak at ILTA because of connections I'd built around CRM. I was asked to co-chair WIN (Intapp’s Women’s Interest Network) because of relationships I'd developed internally at my company. My work on the LMA Education Advisory Council led directly to an invitation to serve as Marketing Technology SIG co-chair. Even my decision to join ILTA's Content Coordination Team was informed by years of knowing what that community valued and who was doing interesting work in it.

The pattern isn't unique to me. Opportunities find people who are already present, already engaged, already known.

“Outside of my role at Benchly, I've stayed active in ILTA's NextGen Legal Innovators, which I recently applied to volunteer for. What keeps me coming back is the mentorship side of the NGLI community, which helps young professionals in legal tech build the relationships and perspective they need early in their careers, while also learning from those further along in their own careers. Investing in others that way has made me a better leader than I would have become on my own.”

Haydn Jones, Vice President, Strategy, Benchly

“Serving as the co-chair of WIN (Intapp’s Women’s Interest Network) has been a rewarding area of involvement for me. Supporting and advocating for women is something I will never tire of. Leadership in this context is getting involved in something that provides meaning to myself and others to create a structure that can be sustained and benefits our work community. It’s a way to continue to learn and grow while also giving back to those who are starting out.”

Alexa Pothier, Senior Growth Director, Intapp

What Outside Leadership Actually Teaches You

There are skills you can develop in a structured corporate environment and skills that are much harder to build there. Influencing without authority. Leading people who have no obligation to follow you. Navigating ambiguity without a playbook. Building consensus among people with competing priorities and limited time. These are the skills that outside leadership roles develop almost by necessity, because the conditions that force them are built into the work.

For me, the most significant shift came from my time in WIN and LMA leadership roles. Those experiences made me think more strategically about my own visibility and surfaced something I'm still working on: learning to advocate for myself. It doesn't come naturally to me, and I suspect I'm not alone in that. But in volunteer and association roles, you earn your standing by showing up, contributing, and making your value visible. That practice has slowly changed how I think about doing the same at work. Because in those spaces, no one hands you credibility. You build it.

“Serving in leadership roles through organizations like ILTA and LMA taught me that leadership isn't about having all the answers-it's about creating opportunities for people to connect, contribute, and learn from one another. That perspective has shaped how I approach my work throughout my career, and today it influences how I lead cross-functional initiatives, encourage technology adoption, and help bridge the gap between people, processes, technology, and intelligence at Barnes & Thornburg.”

Myisha Aldridge, Business Intelligence Analyst, Barnes & Thornburg

“Leading volunteer teams through ILTA, and eventually founding LegalSEC, meant leading without formal authority, so real influence had to be practiced, not assumed. Several volunteering leadership roles also taught me that networking is an invisible control for your leadership, reducing blind spots and stress-testing assumptions. That shows up concretely in the following way: before any major strategy or risk finding goes to a board or client, I may run it through trusted peers first, they consistently add value such as asking the one question I missed. I explore this further in my book, Cyber Executive By Design, in the section "The Power of Networking: Your Invisible Security Control."

Carlos Rodriguez, CEO & vCISO, CA2Security

Your Next Step

Looking across everything I've described… the boards, the committees, the speaking engagements, the volunteer roles, what connects it all isn't strategy or ambition, even though both played a role at various points. It's relationships.

Every significant outside leadership opportunity I've had, came through or led to a meaningful professional relationship. And those relationships, more than any title or credential, are what have shaped my career and my growth as a leader.

If you're a legal technology professional looking to grow beyond your current role, ILTA is a natural place to start. The Content Coordination Teams, committees, and volunteer opportunities within this organization exist precisely because members show up and do work they care about. That's the whole model… and it works.

Start somewhere. Start with something you love. The rest tends to take care of itself.

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