At ILTACON 2025, the session, Driving Profitability by Strengthening Attorney–Support Team Dynamics, featured Michael Stevens, Managing Partner at Derrevere Stevens Vlack & Cozad; Christina Natale, Director of Legal Strategy & Advisory at HIKE; and TJ Fraser, Founder of ZenCase.
From the outset, it was clear this was no static lecture. Michael Stevens broke the ice by inviting audience members to participate in a playful but interesting exercise. Participants played a game of “Operation,” placing stickers on the “body” of a fictional character to indicate where they felt the most significant problems were. The panel then used these visual cues to frame their discussion, offering practical remedies to each “injury.”
The conversation repeatedly came back to one core idea: profitability is built on the foundation of well-structured teams and thoughtful technology adoption. “Teams need to have different kinds of people in different roles,” Fraser noted. “You cannot have a team full of Tom Bradys; it would fall apart.” His sports metaphor underscored the importance of diverse skill sets and perspectives, rather than relying on a single archetype of a high performer.
Natale, whose background includes rescuing troubled technology projects, stressed that technology rollouts must be human-centered. “You can’t implement the technology without thinking about the users,” she cautioned. She shared a cautionary tale of an AMLAW 100 firm that invested heavily in a new app, purchasing a license for every employee without first evaluating whether it solved the actual workflow problem. The result was predictably rocky, and she was brought in after the fact to untangle the issues and realign the tool with the firm’s needs.
Fraser added another key lesson in resilience: “If you never fail the same way twice, it is because you’re learning.” The panel agreed that missteps are inevitable, but the most successful firms treat them as opportunities for iterative improvement rather than reasons to retreat from innovation.
In terms of immediate takeaways, the speakers urged legal tech professionals to involve end-users early in any problem-solving or technology-selection process. Too often, they warned, leadership invests in tools based on vendor promises rather than direct feedback from the people who will use them daily. Measuring fit before purchase not only reduces waste but also boosts adoption rates and overall return on investment.
The session’s energy came from its mix of candid war stories, humor, and tangible strategies. Audience members left with actionable insights: break down bottlenecks, communicate openly across roles, and approach technology adoption as a team sport that values empathy and real-world workflows over flashy features.
Ultimately, the panel demonstrated that while technology can be a powerful driver of profitability, it is the people—diverse in strengths, united in purpose—who determine whether a legal team thrives. As Stevens closed the discussion, the sentiment was clear: success in modern legal practice is less about the tools themselves and more about the human dynamics that make those tools work.