Legally On the Move: Careers, Tech & Insights from Dubai – Sarah Murphy & Myles McLaren – E05

You can hear Rob, Sarah and myles discussing:

You can hear Rob, Sarah and Myles discussing:

–  Clio’s Global Expansion by Means of Strategic Acquisitions

– Dubai As a Key Market for Clio Because of the Region’s Growth, Innovation, and Cultural Diversity

– AI adoption Rapidly Accelerating in the UAE Legal Sector

– The Support that Clio Has Been Extending to Firms in Various Global Regions

– Clio’s New Plans to Build a Stronger Local Presence in the Middle East Over the Next 6-12 Months

Connect with Sarah here – https://ae.linkedin.com/in/sarah-malik-3439398

Connect with Myles here–  https://uk.linkedin.com/in/myles-mclaren

Transcript

Robert Hanna  0:00  

Breaking news from the legally speaking podcast our sponsor, Clio, is accelerating its global expansion with the strategic acquisition of share do a leading adaptive work management platform trusted by some of the world’s largest law firms. With this move, Clio is doubling down on its mission to transform the legal experience for all now, offering a fully comprehensive solutions for law firms of all sizes. This marks a major shift in the legal industry, as Clio continues to drive innovation, efficiency and flexibility for firms worldwide. But that’s not all. We’re also taking you back to Dubai for our next exclusive episode, diving into the legal tech scene in one of the world’s most exciting legal hubs. Let’s get into it. So welcome to the legally speaking podcast, name, title and organisation.

Sarah Murphy  0:48  

Thanks. Sarah Murphy, I am the EMEA GM at Clio.

Rob Hanna  0:51  

And we’re joined by… 

Myles McLaren  0:53

Myles McLaren Channel Sales Lead in EMEA at Clio, absolutely.

Robert Hanna  0:58  

It’s great to have you both here, and I’ll come to you first. Sarah, why is Clio investing in Dubai, and what makes it a key market in terms of legal tech growth?

Sarah Murphy  1:09  

Sunshine, no, I think, you know, the UAE in general is just such a bubbling hub of Growth and Innovation at the moment. And I think also the fact that it’s such a culturally diverse region as well, there’s so much opportunity here. So we already have a great existing customer base, and really what we’re looking now is to expand our operations more so, because we know there’s a real appetite from legal professionals in this region for cloud based, innovative solutions to really help them grow their firms. And we’re really well positioned to support people with that.

Robert Hanna  1:39  

Yeah, no absolutely. And Myles, obviously, we’ve been out for some some events which clear I’ve been putting on. Can you tell our listeners and viewers a little bit about the event and what people took away from that?

Myles McLaren  1:51  

Yeah, I think could say we’ve been to a few events. We hosted our own event alongside Jameson legal tech. I think it was really focused on trying to understand the market more and get people in from the region with us, with clear, because you have a lot of customers here already, but we also know there’s a lot of interest here at all. And I think the event was really focused on about how law firms can improve their business, how they can use AI, how they can use practice management to better upscale their business within within the region. And I think it’s interesting as a region as a whole, because we’re seeing a lot of people want to do that, and a lot of people want to take their business to the next level, but it’s not sure how to and I think the key takeaway yesterday is how you can get started some of the key tools you can use to kind of get you on that journey of transformation and kind of starting improving kind of what they’re looking to do and where they want to be. So I think that was a great event to kind of kick start our presence here and understand what they want more and more so we can tailor it to them. Yeah,

Robert Hanna  2:41  

Yeah and it was a typical Clio style event. Fabulously run, great quality speakers, really nice venue. Clio has a knack of collaborating with partners and finding all these cool venues. Let’s stick with the how. Then, coming back to you, Sarah, how is Clio driving innovation within the UAE legal sector, and what trends do you see really shaping the industry?

Sarah Murphy  3:04  

It’s a really great question, and I’m probably going to give a very obvious answer, but I think AI adoption has gone through a rapid acceleration over the course of the past 12 months, but it really feels like we’re only on the start of that journey. And so I think in terms of looking forward and the trends that we look at, AI was everywhere. At our event, every meeting that we’ve had this week. People are talking about it, but firms now really need to think about how they invest in technology to differentiate themselves. They need to also look at the impact that AI is going to have. Is it going to impact their billing model that they have in their firm? Is it going to impact the way they work? So I think what firms need to do now is really think forward. Look ahead. Invest in technology, invest in marketing, but not just actually invest in it, maximise that investment. And I think Clio is really well set up to support firms in doing that. You know, we have our Clio grow product really supports with client intake. We have Clio payments, which supports with, you know, overall payments and financial services within a firm, automated. Workflow with hybrid billing model structures to be able to support, I could keep going on, but I think that’s what I find really exciting. We’re really well set up to support firms with the future of tech.

Robert Hanna  4:14  

Yeah absolutely. And clear is obviously at the forefront of that. I guess Myles coming to you looking forwards, then in terms of the future of Clio, perhaps in the Emir region. You know, what’s the most exciting plans Clio has for the Middle East. Can you share any more, and how’s this ultimately going to help the legal industry and the region?

Myles McLaren  4:31  

Yeah, I think we have to, have to go back and debrief, first and foremost, figure out kind of what’s going on here. But I think even from my role, kind of being in channel and partnerships, for me, a big next step is kind of building out our ground game with the partners on here, like finding we’ve got Jamieson, who’s out here, but there’s other people out here we can work with, and we had a few people at the event, and really trying to build that local presence through channel, through partnerships, to help support people go into their offices and meeting up and really kind of getting close to them. And I think that then it helps us understand the market better and really refine our approach over the next six to 12 months, and hopefully do more here, and hopefully have more kind of a presence here, whether that will be at events, dinners, things we can do here. I think really it’s about kind of getting as much local knowledge as possible through being here, and then having that local customer base at local partner base, and then take our approach here in the region to another level, like, I think that’s probably the area where, from my perspective, it’s like we have a lot of interest here. How do we refine it? How do we make it even better for the people that are in the region as well?

Robert Hanna  5:33  

Yeah, and look, I’m excited for what Clio, may or may not indeed do. I mean, last year was a monumental year for the company in terms of your series, F 900 million, and everything that you’re doing, Sarah, as you kind of go head back to the UK, what are a couple of key takeaways you’ve taken from your time in Dubai that you know, as someone who’s, you know, in a pioneering legal tech business, that’s really kind of been top of mind for you, that you would share with our audience.

Sarah Murphy  5:57  

I think the overall industry in Dubai is hungry for really innovative technology, technology. They’re innovative solutions that they’re looking for. I think the importance of community is probably the most important message that I’ve got. While here, we’ve met with some incredible people here. But, you know, people want to meet in person, people want to attend events. People want to ideate, strategize and get together. And also, I think there’s actually an amazing culture and organisation here to support women in law, women in leadership. It’s something that’s really rang true from from what I’ve heard today, and something I definitely want to get far more involved with here in this region.

Robert Hanna  6:32  

Absolutely. And just for for you Myles, what are sort of a couple of the key takeaways you’re going to take from your time in Dubai?

Myles McLaren  6:38  

Yeah, I think probably echo what Sarah said to many law firms out here, many partners, and they’ve all said the same thing. They all want they want people to come here. They want technology here. They want to implement it. And I think that hunger is really kind of shunned brightly in the last couple of days. Of how many people are really interested in wanting to do it? And I think it’s, it’s not for the one of not wanting to, like, not try, and it’s not that many options. Often it feels like for them, and we’re talking to businesses that have the drive to do it, they just need their help to kind of get over the line, implement it, and have the right people there to kind of really support them. And for me, coming away, I’ve really been blown away by how actually the opportunity here is here, like there’s a lot of customers here, a lot of lawyers here, and there’s a lot of people that want to do stuff. And I think it just, it’s a great opportunity for Clio as a whole, but it’s a great thing for the local community, and a local kind of legal community, that they’ve got a slight, exciting journey ahead of them.

Robert Hanna  7:28  

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m excited to see what Clio does. And if folks are new to Clio, Sarah, where can they go to find out more? And how can they get in touch with either yourself or Myles if they want to learn more about your product or maybe get a demo?

Sarah Murphy  7:42  

Yeah, it’s great question. So you will find us on all the normal social media channels. The easiest way to connect with me or Myles is through LinkedIn. You can find me under Sarah Murphy, Clio. Also, I think the best place to go to find out more about Clio is on our website, www.clio.com, you can find all the information on our product range. You can find out all the details and our pricing. But of course, I think the best way to find out about stuff is to speak to a member of our team. So if anyone does have any questions, we’d love for you to reach out.

Robert Hanna  8:11  

Absolutely, it just leads me to say, thanks so much once again for both returning to the legally speaking podcast. It’s been an absolute blast spending time with you in Dubai. I’m excited for what Clio is going to do next, but from all of us now on the show, over and out, thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of our legally on the move from Dubai series. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please take a moment to rate and review the show on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps us out. And if you want to connect with us directly, join our vibrant legally speaking club community on Discord or visit our official website. Legally speaking podcast.com. For more updates and ways to get involved. Stay tuned. We’ll see you again soon. Over and out.