Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast

The legal business model has resisted fundamental change for decades: Is now finally the time? In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Co-founder & CEO at General Legal Ryan Walker to discuss how AI-native law firms are reshaping legal practice. Together, they explore what it truly means to integrate technology at every level of legal processes.

 

What You'll Learn:

How to abandon the billable hour model and implement flat rate pricing

Why AI integration goes beyond research and affects all processes

How AI is accelerating junior attorney development

How to build competitive advantage in a saturated profession through specialization

The specter of AI agents hiring outside legal counsel

Understanding legal market valuation in the age of agentic AI

 

About the Guest:

Ryan Walker is the Co-founder & CEO at General Legal, an AI-native law firm bringing a fresh perspective to legal service delivery. His background in mathematics and machine learning ties into his unique expertise of applying AI solutions to tackle complex legal situations. Previously, he’s also led innovation at Casetext, where he championed the adoption of BERT models and semantic research engines in legal research, giving the company an undeniable edge in legal technology services. 

 

Ryan's work is redefining what's possible in legal technology and accessibility, making this conversation essential for those navigating the intersection of AI, legal innovation, and organizational transformation.

 

Episode Resources

Ryan Walker on LinkedIn: Ryan Walker

General Legal  Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Most contract problems begin with teams not knowing where their agreements are, which version is current, and what data those agreements contain. 

 

In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe speak with Shelle Elzer, Legal Operations Manager at NetApp, about the operational foundation legal teams need before AI can deliver meaningful value. 

 

What You'll Learn:

Why contract visibility is an operational insurance policy

How to move Legal Ops out of constant firefighting mode

Why new technology cannot compensate for bad contract data

How to define and enforce a minimum viable contract data set

Why AI is giving contract teams a stronger seat at the business table

 

About the Guest:

Shelle Elzer is a Legal Operations Manager at NetApp, where she focuses on contract operations, legal technology and the processes that help teams turn agreements into usable business intelligence. Her career has followed contracts across several very different industries. She began at GE working on the procurement side, later moved into healthcare with a focus on physician contracts, and eventually joined NetApp, where she now works with a contract portfolio of more than 100,000 agreements.

 

Here, Shelle has helped build repeatable contract processes that support major organizational initiatives, including entity changes, M&A activity and the company’s headquarters relocation to Cork, Ireland. 

 

Episode Resources

Shelle Elzer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelle-elzer-91ab634/ 

NetApp Website: https://www.netapp.com/ 

Workday Contract Management: Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Contracting isn’t just legal paperwork - it’s one of the most important operational systems inside any organization. In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Sofya Mikhelson, Vice President of Contract Lifecycle Management at Fairview Health Services, to explore how enterprise contracting can become more centralized, strategic, and technology-enabled.

What You'll Learn:

Why contract lifecycle management needs governance, technology, and operational ownership

How to build contracting alignment across siloed departments

Why contracts need to be designed with post-signature monitoring in mind

How CLM and ERP integrations can close the gap between contract terms and financial execution

Why AI can improve contract review without replacing human judgment

How templates, playbooks, and decision trees can speed up contracting while keeping legal involved

Why contracting professionals need to think like strategic business partners

About the Guest:

Sofya Mikhelson is Vice President of Contract Lifecycle Management at Fairview Health Services, a nonprofit health system serving communities across Minnesota. With over 25 years of contracting experience across nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and healthcare operations, Sofya brings a deeply practical view of how organizations can build contracting governance at scale. Her work focuses on centralizing contract lifecycle management, improving cross-functional collaboration, integrating CLM technology with enterprise systems, and positioning contracting as a strategic partner to the business.

Episode Resources

Sofya Mikhelson on LinkedIn: Sofya Mikhelson

Fairview Health Services Website

Workday Contract Management: Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.

In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Donovan Bell, Senior Director and Head of Global Operations for Corporate Affairs, Policy, Integrity, Trade, and Legal at Intel, to discuss how Intel’s legal operations team is navigating organizational change and AI adoption simultaneously.

What You'll Learn:

Why agentic AI requires a decision architecture before deployment

How to foster healthy skepticism in AI adoption

The four essential qualities to hire for in legal ops talent

How to balance aggressive AI adoption with human psychology

Why orchestration drives meaningful transformation

How to apply agile frameworks to legal ops innovation

Why contract lifecycle management becomes your competitive intelligence engine

About the Guest:

Donovan Bell is Senior Director and Head of Global Operations for Corporate Affairs, Policy, Integrity, Trade, and Legal at Intel, bringing over 15 years of experience in technology-driven organizational transformation. With a background spanning Microsoft, Walmart, and other Fortune 500 companies, Donovan specializes in orchestrating intelligence across legal operations, AI adoption, and people-centric change management. He also serves on the Board of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) and co-chairs the Inclusion and Social Impact Council, while also teaching as an adjunct professor and program director in project management.

Episode Resources

Donovan Bell on LinkedIn

Intel Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.

What if your contracts could become a strategic asset instead of a bottleneck? In this episode of Meeting of the Minds - The Legal AI Podcast, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Anthony Tacker, Director of Procurement and Risk at FlexGen, to explore how purpose-built legal AI is transforming contract management, accelerating deal cycles, and enabling smarter risk mitigation. 

What You'll Learn:

How to reduce contract analysis time from days to hours using purpose-built AI

The key differences between generalized AI models and specialized legal AI and why it matters for risk and compliance

Proven strategies for embedding tariff protections and adapting to shifting government policies

How to structure an effective procurement-legal partnership for faster, more accurate outcomes

Methods to identify and mitigate multi-party contract risks across large contract portfolios

Why AI is enabling a shift from hourly billing to value-based pricing models in legal and procurement services

About the Guest:

Anthony Tacker is the Director of Procurement and Risk at FlexGen and an accomplished project management executive and business operations leader. With extensive experience managing complex, multi-million-dollar capital projects and service contracts, Anthony has built a reputation for driving operational excellence and delivering measurable business results.

He has successfully led global teams and negotiated high-value, multi-year contracts across North America, Aruba, the Netherlands, and Venezuela, building strong relationships with top-tier heavy industry clients. Known for turning around underperforming operations, Anthony combines strategic vision with hands-on leadership to improve performance, mitigate risk, and accelerate growth.

Episode Resources

Anthony Tacker on LinkedIn

FlexGen Website

Workday Contract Management: Website

Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus

Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe

Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.