Director, Practice Innovation

Foley & Lardner LLP is a great place to work because of what we do and how we do it. Here, your unique perspectives, experiences, and abilities will be embraced and developed, so you can excel. Being a part of Foley means having the opportunities and resources necessary to gain experience, advance professional goals, and forge meaningful connections. It’s a place where you can build your career and enjoy professionally satisfying work. We have over 2,300 people who are #HappyatFoley, and we think you will be too. 

We are seeking an experienced, forward-thinking Director of Practice Innovation to lead our firmwide efforts in identifying, developing, and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that transform how our lawyers deliver legal services. This tech-savvy leader will act as a strategic bridge between our attorneys and our technology team, ensuring that AI and other innovative tools are deployed in ways that meaningfully improve efficiency, enhance quality, and deliver exceptional value to our clients. This is a lawyer-facing, practice-driven leadership position embedded within our Practice Management Department. 

Strategic AI Use Case Identification & Implementation:

• Partner directly with partners, associates, and practice group leadership to surface AI opportunities and develop high-impact use cases aligned with client and practice needs
• Assist with mapping legal workflows, harnessing practice data and expertise, analyzing processes, and evaluating how to apply AI-enabled solutions and enhance client service in an ethical and legally compliant manner
• Help design, develop, test, and deploy AI prompts and workflows, working closely with attorneys to develop consistent and scalable best practices
• Collaborate with the technology team and legal technology vendors to leverage appropriate AI tools to address identified use cases and effectively implement AI across practices
• Stay informed of emerging trends in generative AI and legal tech to identify, evaluate and advocate for innovative AI-based legal technology solutions that improve client service delivery

Collaboration & Solution Deployment:

• Act as the primary liaison between the firm’s legal practices and the technology and professional development teams for AI-related initiatives
• Collaborate with the technology team to select, configure, and launch appropriate AI technologies in our practices
• Lead pilots, proofs-of-concept, and full-scale rollouts of AI tools within practice groups
• Coordinate with various administrative departments to ensure AI solutions integrate seamlessly into practice workflows

Education, Adoption & Change Management:

• Design and deliver engaging training sessions, workshops, one-on-one education opportunities, and reference materials that empower attorneys to use AI tools effectively
• Collaborate with the professional development team and practice training leaders to incorporate AI-related education and programming in existing training programs
• Champion adoption by developing success stories, internal marketing campaigns, and demonstrating measurable wins
• Build and leverage a network of internal AI “power users” and innovation champions within practice groups
• Objectively evaluate potential new technologies and manage expectations as appropriate
• Communicate the value of and the firm’s use of AI to clients

Measurement, Reporting & Continuous Improvement:

• Define and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and success metrics for AI initiatives
• Identify opportunities for improvement and rapidly implement corrective actions when needed
• Gather user feedback, usage analytics, and client impact data to refine solutions and guide ongoing development and deployment
• Prepare regular reports for firm leadership highlighting progress, ROI, client impact, and future opportunities and resources needed to advance the Firm’s AI and legal innovation strategy
• Collaborate with legal department leadership and practice and pricing analytics teams on pricing models and alternative fee arrangements that reflect AI-enabled efficiencies 

• JD required
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience as a practicing lawyer in a large law firm and/or corporate legal department required.  AmLaw 100 firm experience preferred
• Demonstrated understanding of law firm practice workflows, client service priorities, and legal technology trends, with emphasis on Gen AI models and tools
• Proven experience with legal AI solutions, including prompt engineering, process design, document automation, data analytics, and/or workflow automation in the legal context
• Experience leading change management initiatives involving innovative technology adoption in a legal environment
• Exposure to agile project management methodologies and an understanding of the business of law, including practice economics and pricing preferred 

In support of transparency and equity in the workplace, Foley provides salary ranges for all positions. The figures below represent the full compensation range of this position. The actual offered amount will be between the range minimum and midpoint based on the following factors: education, experience, geographic market, and internal pay equity at Foley.

-$250,000 to $333,300

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without consideration to their race, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, domestic partner status or medical condition.  Foley & Lardner LLP will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance.  Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. We are accepting ongoing applications.  #LI-Hybrid