Exclusive: In Major Alliance Of Legal Transformation Organizations, Digital Legal Exchange Joins Liquid Legal Institute

Two main worldwide authorized transformation suppose tanks, Digital Authorized Trade (DLEx) and Liquid Authorized Institute (LLI), are becoming a member of forces efficient April 1. The strategic union brings collectively greater than 1,500 members representing greater than 140 multinational firms, organizations, establishments and businesses throughout greater than 20 international locations, creating what the organizations describe as a formidable international discussion board for authorized transformation.

Going ahead, DLEx will function inside LLI as a curated authorized government discussion board known as the Digital Leaders Trade @ Liquid Authorized Institute (DLE@LLI), to be led by the cofounders of DLEx, Chairman William “Invoice” Deckelman and Chairman Emeritus Mark A. Cohen.

The union goals to create the world’s main suppose tank for authorized transformation beneath the motto, “Collectively we design the way forward for authorized.”

“Welcoming the distinct DLEx group will strengthen LLI’s imaginative and prescient of serving as a world, numerous suppose tank targeted on innovation and transformation in legislation, embracing all elements and all ranges of the group,” stated Dr. Dierk Schindler, co-founder and co-CEO of LLI, together with Kai Jacob.

Deckelman, who’s at the moment chief authorized officer at Anderson and who has held that position at a number of main firms, added: “The chance to formalize the shut working relationship DLEx has had with LLI may be very thrilling and can create a robust functionality to collaboratively deal with the numerous challenges dealing with company authorized organizations within the AI period.”

Complementary Organizations

The merger displays the 2 group’s complementary strengths and approaches. Each have collaborated up to now and even share some overlapping members. Each deal with utilized analysis, group constructing, and apply options. And each are navigating the identical terrain of enhancing the authorized perform.

In an interview for my LawNext podcast that can air tomorrow with Schindler and Cohen, Schindler defined that, whereas LLI began as an affiliation for the “doers and shakers” in authorized organizations, ultimately bringing in additional managing companions, basic counsel, and senior enterprise leaders, DLEx started from the outset with a spotlight basic counsels and senior leaders.

With this union, and the creation of DLE@LLI, there’s nonetheless an area for basic counsel to proceed to have an trade within the spirit fostered by DLEx, whereas additionally opening the door for them to usher in extra of their groups to have interaction in initiatives, initiatives, roundtables, and the like.

As well as, Schindler stated, the union broadens the group’s geographic scope. As a result of LLI was based in Germany, its membership is strongest in Europe. Against this, the majority of the membership of DLEx is in the USA and the UK.

“It’s a win-win-win throughout,” Schindler stated. “The preliminary suggestions that we’ve acquired, each from the Liquid Authorized Institute group, but additionally, extra importantly, from the DLEx group, is tremendous optimistic when it comes to seeing that added worth and extra alternative.”

One Plus One Equals 11

Cohen, an internationally identified authorized enterprise marketing consultant at Authorized Mosaic and longtime columnist for Forbes, described the union as one by which “one and one provides as much as 11,” noting that each organizations share frequent objectives and strategies.

“For a very long time, Bob, my view is that our trade has been too vulcanized,” Cohen stated in our podcast interview. Too many authorized associations, he stated, are too closely pushed by issues about dues and sponsorships. In distinction, neither LLI nor DLEx are sponsor pushed, however reasonably are impartial and have as their major objective creating group.

Based in 2018, DLEx has functioned as a worldwide, non-profit membership discussion board for basic counsels, enterprise leaders, and choose exterior advisors targeted on accelerating digital transformation of the company authorized perform. LLI, additionally based in 2018, is a world suppose tank dedicated to authorized transformation with a broader membership representing the whole authorized sector.

The combination creates expanded alternatives for member organizations. Former DLEx members, who usually engaged as people or with a deputy, can now convey complete groups (as much as 30 members) into LLI actions. Present DLEx members will routinely grow to be LLI members by 2025.

Advantages to members will embrace expanded group, scholarship, and stay and digital occasions, drawing on the experience of every group’s members. DLEx entity members can now have interaction extra of their colleagues in a variety of LLI transformation actions acceptable to their degree and position.

DLE@LLI will proceed to host DLEx’s signature Salons — invitation-only digital occasions for GCs and senior innovation leaders to have interaction in candid and sturdy exchanges on well timed matters.

A devoted DLE Government Workplace, led by Robert Dilworth, who was already a member of each organizations, will guarantee a easy transition and help DLE actions inside the broader LLI framework.

Joint Occasions Deliberate

A sequence of preliminary joint initiatives and occasions is already deliberate, which incorporates:

The April 12 publication of the e book, Liquid Authorized — Sustaining the Rule of Legislation, which incorporates contributions from some 30 members of each LLI and DLEx.
Featured content material at Authorized Tech Speak 2025 in London (June 26-27) and LLI’s 2025 Summit in Düsseldorf (July 7-8), together with a personal GC assembly and dinner related to these occasions.
Publication of a collaborative white paper on gen AI-era authorized sector expertise.

The organizations share a imaginative and prescient of reworking the authorized perform to raised serve enterprise wants in a digital world. “Transformation has so much to do with mindset, before everything,” Schindler defined in our podcast interview. “This isn’t a undertaking. This isn’t about know-how, before everything. That is about individuals, sure, however to start with, it’s a mindset.”

Cohen emphasised the significance of creativity and curiosity in fashionable authorized apply: “Once I was a child lawyer … you weren’t inspired to be artistic. You weren’t significantly inspired to be curious. And I’m delighted to say that in right this moment’s world, I believe that has grow to be an actual requisite for attorneys.”