Data Analytics From the Top Down: What GCs, Law Firm Leaders and the C-Suite Should Know About Data Analytics

Ralph served as Chairman & CEO of Orrick for nearly a quarter century, leading the firm as it expanded, diversified and extended its geographic reach, transforming from a domestic firm with California origins to become one of the world’s most prominent global law firms, with more than 1,100 lawyers in 25 offices across the United States, Europe and Asia.

Ralph launched several groundbreaking initiatives that modernized the way Orrick operated and served its clients, including establishing the legal industry’s first on-shore operations center in Wheeling, West Virginia in 2001, affirmatively embracing technology, and instituting non-traditional talent and pricing models, distinguishing the firm as a bold innovator.

The American Lawyer named Ralph one of the “Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Last 50 Years.” In naming Ralph among the “Most Innovative Managing Partners,” Law360’s editors said Ralph “has left an indelible mark not only on [Orrick]… but also the larger practice by upending traditional career models, rejiggering payment structures and transforming the business of law in many other innovative ways.”

Recognized as one of America’s “100 Most Influential Lawyers” by The National Law Journal, Ralph has long been a frequent speaker on business leadership and the evolution of the legal profession. He is the founder of the Law Firm Leaders Forum, one of the most significant gatherings of law firm leaders that annually examines the critical issues facing the legal profession.

Before becoming Chairman and CEO, Ralph practiced employment law and led Orrick’s highly regarded Employment Law Department, which he founded as a second year associate. He was recognized as one of the “Nation’s Best Litigators in Employment Law” by The National Law Journal, acting as trusted advisor to Fortune 50 clients. During his years as a practicing lawyer, he lectured and wrote extensively on developments in the law, and testified on employment law issues before the California State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mark Smolik leads the company’s legal, commercial contracts management, compliance, and economic development teams. He also serves as Global Chair of the company’s Supply Chain Legal Services Practice Group. The company employs 48,000 associates throughout the Americas and provides third party logistics, supply chain management, and contract packaging services to many of the world’s largest companies. The company also provides general management, professional back-office support and creative marketing services through its Williams Lea TAG operations.

Prior to joining DHL, Mark served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer of Safelite Autoglass where he also led the Human Resources and Government Affairs departments. Prior to joining Safelite, Mark served as Senior Corporate Counsel with The Sherwin-Williams Company.

Mark received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from John Carroll University. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Columbus 2020, the economic development organization for the eleven county Columbus, Ohio region. Mark also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of Logigforce, and the Board of Visitors of the Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He is a frequent speaker, and the author of several publications, on the changing dynamics of the legal industry.

As CEO, Karl leads strategy and operations at Lex Machina. Previously, Karl led all product development, product strategy, and engineering efforts at Lex Machina as CTO and Vice President of Products through Lex Machina’s successful acquisition by LexisNexis.

Prior to Lex Machina, Karl worked as a Fellow at XSeed Capital Management, a seed stage venture firm and Lex Machina’s lead investor. He also served as Vice President of Product Management and as Vice President of Engineering for Flurry, Inc., the provider of the largest mobile analytics and monetization platform, where he was a member of the founding team before Flurry was acquired by Yahoo. Prior to Flurry, Karl spent five years building sonar systems for Applied Research Laboratories of the University of Texas at Austin.

Karl holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and while in law school worked in Fish & Richardson’s patent litigation and prosecution groups. Karl also holds an M.S. in Computer Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and an A.B. in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.